Making Your Own Way
by KyraKayden
Summary: Kyra the Dragonborn. A story of a young girl forging her life as the Dragonborn, of loss, of pain, of stunning acts of heroism and selflessness, and some not so heroic and not so selfless. There will be gore, sexual encounters, I also on occasion just write without furthering the ongoing plot, but I hope you'll stick around. I welcome reviews or comments, and I hope you enjoy.
1. 4th of Frostfall, 4E 201

At the 3rd hour of the 4th day of Frostfall, in the 4th Era the year 201, the moonlight shone over Tamriel illuminating the snow covered plains of Skyrim and a Hero as she raced to meet her goal...

Kyra breaths in the thin mountain air, it burns in her lungs as she pants sprinting up the steep snowy grade towards the Nightgate Inn. She slides over an ice covered rock and rolls to a crouch pausing to scan her surroundings then takes off at a dead run. Branches whip past her hooded and cowled face as she sprints through the woods her boots crunching in the moonlit snow.

She pulls her bow from her back as she plants one hand and vaults over a small boulder. She slides down a steep snow covered grade coming out of the treeline, taking the steps up the back of the Inn to the second floor balconies two at a time, nearly going over the balcony railing as she turns the corner at full speed.

Her heel skids on the wood as she seats the arrow and pulls back, her ebony bow horizontal in her left hand arrowhead running parallel along the railing as she scans the roads from her elevated viewpoint. She raises the bow, glances over her thumb and sees her target.

The Courier.

She follows him for a moment then leads him, she exhales and releases. The arrow sails silently through the air and catches him through the back of his skull and out the right eye. She slips the bow over her shoulder and puts one hand on the railing throwing herself over and landing silently on her booted feet in the snow.

She dashes quietly past the lit windows of the Inn, pulling the wood handled iron meat hook from her belt and hooks the back section of his chest plate quickly dragging him out of sight into the trees.

Kyra takes a knee looking up into the trees searching her surroundings as the sound of a bird taking flight echoes through the dark woods. She turns over the body and snaps the arrow in two, yanking the pieces out dropping them beside her. She shrugs her leather pack off her shoulders and flips open the flap as Kyra unsheaths the Elven knife belted horizontally along the small of her back and cuts the straps on the mans armor.

"Come on." She mutters quietly to herself as she pulls the armor off, pushing his shirt up and finds what she came for. The troop movements and plans of the Stormcloak Rebellion, in a sealed pouch strapped to his chest. She looks around as she stuffs the documents into her pack and shoulders it again. She grabs some branches and works to quickly cover the body.

She grabs a larger leafy branch and quietly approaches the treeline looking around for anyone. Kyra makes her way into the open, eyes scouring the Inn a hundred yards from her, and sweeps away the drag marks in the snow. She tosses the branch aside dusting off her gloved hands and calmly walks out of the woods and swings herself onto the nearest horse.

Now all she had to do was get these orders back to Legate Rikke in her camp tucked neatly away in the deep snows of the Pale. She grips the reins tight digging her heels in, the horse turns in place to face the north road and she gives the reins a snap.

"Hyah!"

Chapter One

"Dragonborn. Come in out of the snow and tell me of your travels." Legate Rikke says as she stares down at a map of Skyrim held to the table by two steel daggers, red and blue flags mark the war between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks.

Kyra steps in pushing her black hood back from her face brushing the snow from her black armor. Wisps of snow coated ringlets of silky dark hair fall into her face in places as her blue eyes reflect the candlelight. Kyra reaches up and pulls the cowling from her nose and mouth down under her chin.

"I intercepted the courier." She says as she pulls her pack off her shoulders and reaches inside for the sealed pouch. Rikke gulps from a goblet next to her helmet, setting it down she takes the sealed pouch.

"Excellent. We can forge these orders and give ourselves a little breathing room. Good work." Rikke takes the dagger from her belt, slices the pouch open and retrieves the orders spreading them out on the table pulling the candle closer. Kyra stands in place quietly for a moment then begins to turn away to leave.

"I'll leave you to it then Legate."

"Wait a moment please." Rikke says dropping a coin purse on the table with the satisfying plinking sound only a bag full of Septims could make.

"The thanks of a grateful Empire." She adds nodding to it. Kyra turns back and hefts it in her hand tossing it a few inches into the air and catching it, she nods at Rikke.

"Of course, unless you'd be interested in a little more espionage on behalf of such a grateful Empire..." Kyra stops, her hand already propping the tent flap halfway open, midway through stooping under it. Rikke smiles looking back down at the orders and continuing to alter them.

"Damn you Rikke." Kyra turns back to the table and plants both hands flat on it.

"We're closer than we've ever been to finishing the Stormcloaks once and for all, you've been instrumental in doing this but we still have a long way to go." Rikke finishes her hasty changes and works at restoring the pouch to a more presentable state, sealing it again.

"Here, one more thing. Grab some Imperial studded on your way out. Tell Frorkmar Banner-Torn you got it off a patrol and it got you through a few checkpoints. Details will help sell it, and sell it you must because Banner-Torn will ask. He's no fool but his army is so pitiful he'll be proud to see creative thought popping up in the ranks." Kyra nods taking the pouch extended in Rikkes hand.

"Need someplace to store my gear in the meantime. I'm not in the habit of being without it let alone out of my sight." Rikke nods to the chest behind her and hands Kyra the key to her personal chest from her belt pouch . Kyra drops the sealed pouch back onto the table and walks around the other side of it unbuckling her chest plates intricate network of straps.

She takes a knee and unlocks the chest tipping the lid open. Kyra pulls her hood off over her head and stands up, undoing her gloves and bracers dropping them onto the table. She notices Rikke looking at her out of the corner of her eye as she "studies" the map.

"You mind? I've been cinched into this thing for days..." Kyra asks after a long moment, turning her back to Rikke and gesturing to the buckles at her lower back. Rikke moves behind her and takes ahold of the leather buckle and grunts as she tries to undo it.

"Hang on." She says as she uses her knee and yanks hard on the strap as the buckle finally gives.

She helps Kyra pull her arms out of it and Rikke sees, through the thin material between her and the armor, the scars of battle that line her otherwise lithe and delicate frame. Whether this Breton was the Dragonborn or not she was a proven warrior, more so now in the Legates eyes who judges only with proof. Talk is easy... not that the Dragonborn talked much at all.

"Thanks." Kyra says as she undoes her sword belt dropping her Skyforged steel blade on the table beside her as she unbuckles the lower half of her armor and steps out of her boots pushing it down her legs . She makes a neat pile with her light armor sets her hood onto it and places it in the chest. She locks it and shivers in the cold, handing the key to Rikke.

"I'll be back for that." Kyra says picking up her sword belt arching her eyebrow as if to say "understand me?" Rikke nods as Kyra turns away and ducks out of the warm tent into the freezing cold and snow to find the Quartermaster.


	2. 9th of Suns Dusk, 4e 201

Kyras head falls to the side as her lower body arches and she moans softly into the pillow, her fists gripping the sheets of her soft bed as Aelas tongue slides slowly up her length. Her knees bend and her right hand slides through Aelas mane of fiery red hair and grabs a fistful of it arching her body and pressing her face into herself harder as Aelas tongue enters her.

"God mm- fuck." Kyra mumbles softly biting her pillow as her thighs begin to squeeze Aelas head. Her eyes go to the ceiling as her teeth dig into her lower lip, whimpering as she bucks against Aelas lips.

"I missed you so much." Kyra manages between gasping breaths, she digs her nails into Aelas hair and scalp as she moans and her playful grip turns to a death grip as their bedroom door springs open.

"Ow ba-baby you're hurting me." Aela says from under the sheet as Minette runs into the room.

"Kyra!" The little girl says as she runs for the bed and jumps towards her. Kyra struggles to cover herself with the sheet, hide her shocked expression and straighten her teased and tossed hair all while taking the impact of a running excited child.

"Oh-whoa-hi there sweetheart." Kyra says with a smile hugging her adjusting the sheet further up her body.

"Where's Aela?" Minette asks as Aela slides up from under the sheet.

"Right here honey." Aela moves to the head of the bed and puts her arm around Minette, snuggling her in between the two of them.

"When did you get here Kyra? Where did you go this time? Was it dangerous did you-" Kyra lifts the child over to her lap with a grunt.

"Oh you're getting heavy child, and curious. So many questions before Kyras had her tea." Kyra says as she brushes some bangs from Minettes face and smiles.

"But yes it was! Not to mention exciting!" She adds widening her eyes in excitement and tickling the little girl. Aela had decided to adopt Minette when she visited the Honorhall Orphanage, both of her parents having been murdered by an as yet unknown assassin in their Inn the Winking Skeever in Solitude.

Kyra had been there before, had even met Minette on one occasion she was in the Winking Skeever meeting a contact from the Thieves Guild. Aela had hoped the two of them would get along, once she realized how serious her feelings were for the Dragonborn.

"Lets look here... what did I see now hmm?" Kyra asks as she leans over the bed pulling her leather pack from under it and taking out her journal.

"You two catch up and I'll go see if Valdimar has breakfast going." Aela says sliding out from between the sheets pulling on a large-ish shirt over her nimble and naked body.

"Tell Valdimar I need to see him about some furnishings for the cellar while I'm here." Kyra says looking up from her journal, pointing to a sketch she made of a Dwarven Centurion when she spent an entire night on a perch inside the ruin.

She spent several hours just looking at it, just waiting to see if it moved. She even dared it to move, before she went for the treasure it guarded. Minette examines it closer in stunned awe running her fingers over Kyras rough charcoal sketch.

Aela leans in the doorway for a long moment looking at them, a smile finding its way across her lips as she watches them interact. Kyra wasn't that old herself, barely twenty winters, so young but the face and the scars on her body told of a life much different from any girl Aela knew her age.

"Did you fight it?" Kyra feigns a shocked expression.

"Are you insane? Look at that thing! Would've ripped me to shreds. So I sneaked right by him." Kyra says making a smooth hand gesture through the air with a smug and prideful expression, not to mention the trademark Kyra smirk.

"Really?"

"Really. My heart was pounding in my ears as I knelt at that chest and took out my lockpicks... and just as I slid them in..." Kyra says pausing for dramatic effect.

"What? The Centurion? A walking Skeleton? A draugr?!" Minette asks on the edge. Kyra shakes her head and leans closer.

"It was unlocked. So I grabbed the loot and got out of there like I was on fire. Here I brought you something." Kyra says with a smile leaning back against her pillows and rummaging in her big leather pack that, before she came here to live at Windstad Manor, held everything she'd had in the world. She retrieves an amulet with a big ruby and gold pendant on it and slips it around the little girls neck, tapping the end of her nose.

"Now go eat, and be nice to Valdimar. He's still getting the cooking thing down." She adds as the little girl trots out of the room and she leans over the bed almost completely upside down looking for something to wear besides a bed sheet, as Valdimar knocks on the door Minette left open.

"Excuse me, my Thane?" Kyra sits back upright in the bed brushing her hair back from her cheeks, covering herself again with the sheet.

"Valdimar good, just the man I wanted to see. Speaking of, have you seen something I can wear?" He looks around then takes a house shirt carelessly tossed across a chair and hands it to her, averting his eyes as she stands up and pulls it on over her head, flipping her hair out of the neckline.

"Miss Aela said you required my presence?" Kyra looks in the mirror and ruffles her hair.

"Uh, I do yes. I don't know how long I'll be around for this time around, never do really but I'd like you to make some improvements to the house while I'm gone more specifically the cellar. I saw some rather nice safes that would fit those inlaid shelves in the second room down there perfectly." Kyra rummages through her pack and takes out a coin purse undoing the loop holding it closed. She examines the contents and mutters to herself counting in her head. She then reties it and tosses it to Valdimar.

"Of course, my Thane, and where did you see these?" Kyra makes a face for a long moment then remembers.

"Ah yes! Tell me you love me Valdimar..." She says, her voice trails off as she flips through the pages of her journal until she finds the list of prices and other relevant information she had gotten from the man who ran the shop. She beams as she hands the list to him, beyond proud of herself that for once she didn't just give him something completely obscure to do on relatively no information at all. Valdimar examines the paper and nods.

"Right away, and my Thane?"

"Yes?"

"I dont think Miss Aela would appreciate me ever saying the words "I love you" to you." Kyra looks thoughtful for a moment and rests her hand on Valdimars shoulder in a consoling way.

"You're absolutely right my friend...she would kill you."

"Indeed, my Thane." They stand like this in complete silence for a long moment.

"You can go now." She says patting his shoulder one more time.

"Of course, my Thane." Valdimar bows slightly and exits the room as Kyra throws open the double doors of her wardrobe. Maybe this'll be an easy day for the Dragonborn she thinks to herself. I'll wear something that doesn't protect me from being cleaved in twain, I'll make love to my beautiful girlfriend-

"Excuse me, my Thane, my apologies but there is a General Tullius here to see you."

"...risk my life for the Empire." Kyra says angrily, finishing her thought out loud. She shuts the doors of her wardrobe and walks out of her bedroom.

Peeking over the railing down at the dining table she sees the General standing in the entry way near one end of the table. Minette is beside him staring up at the elderly, yet heavily armored soldier. He looks down at her and she ducks back behind Aela as she ignores the General, putting plates down.

"General Tullius. To what do I owe the pleasure of the Empire here... in my home... on this fine Sundas morning?" Kyra asks, her voice echoing in the main hall as she comes down the stairs, hand sliding along the railing. Tullius' eyes follow her wandering over the long shirt and her bare legs.

"Is there someplace private we can talk?" Aela comes up to Kyras side and hands her a cup of hot tea.

Kyra takes it and kisses Aela softly, to Tullius' visible discomfort, she then takes a sip and nods her head to the right. She leads Tullius through the doorways and into the library where she walks over and warms her bare legs and hands by the fire.

"We've got a situation. I was going to send Rikke here to talk to you but I figured it was time we start dealing face to face." Tullius says as he examines an open book on the table. Kyra waits patiently by the big fireplace and drinks her tea.

"We need information. We want you to find a source of...control over a woman named Anuriel. She serves at the pleasure of Laila Law-Giver as her steward. As such we believe she is privy to information we wouldn't easily get otherwise. I'm sending you to the Rift, seek out Anuriel find incriminating evidence to use against her and bring it to Rikke for further orders." Tullius shuts the book in his hands and sets it down on the table as Kyra looks into the fire for a moment.

"Any objections?"

"No sir."

"Good, then get moving soldier. You're on the Empires' Septims now."


	3. 27th of Suns Dusk, 4E 201

Kyra pulls back the arrow and sets her sights on the archer occupying the east tower of Fort Sungard, taking a knee in the dirt. She holds her position as she looks to her left, watching the staggered line of Imperial soldiers approaching the treeline with her, she looks to her right and sees the same.

They all look down the line towards her each one signaling the ready. She raises her bow and gazes up at the guard lit by the early morning sun. He yawns.

Kyra releases, the arrow flies through the air arcing just enough to catch the sun on its fletching before embedding itself in the spine of the archer guarding the tower. A hail of arrows follow hers, some missing but more than their share finding purchase in the flesh of the Stormcloaks. Kyra keeps her bow in her left hand and sprints out of the treeline making a break for the fort wall.

A few arrows strike the ground here and there a few feet from her, a few feet closer. She exhales when her back hits the cold stone wall. She senses more than sees the movement above her and strings an arrow, crouching and aiming up, she releases drawn only half way and the unlucky guard leaning over meets his end when the arrow goes through his mouth and out the back of his neck, cleanly through the spine. She rolls a few feet out of the way as the body tumbles over the edge and lands with a thud.

Imperial soldiers begin making their way to the wall pouring out of the treeline in droves now as Kyra slides her bow across her shoulders and unsheaths her Skyforged Steel blade, slowly making her way along the wall towards the entrance to the fort.

She turns the corner and looks up, ducking back around the corner as an arrow digs into the ground where she had stood. She hefts her shield makes herself as small as possible and darts back around the corner, sprinting up the ramp to the top of the wall where the archers were getting ready to fight with swords.

Arrows ricochet off her shield as she tries to fight the force of the multiple small sharp impacts, and keep up the fancy footwork as arrows hit near her feet and legs as well.

She drops the shield as a Stormcloak soldier charges at her and she steps aside kicking him down the ramp and thrusting her blade into a Stormcloak soldier to her left. It goes through his abdomen out his back as she lashes out at the soldier who charges at her from her right. Her shield catches him in the chest knocking him off his feet and off the wall.

She shoves her boot into the soldiers chest and yanks her blade out of him twisting in place and barely bringing it up in time to parry the long chopping motion of a soldiers greatsword. She barely repels the second mighty chop of the massive sword and rolls back to her feet. The big brute of a man laughs at her and beckons her on.

She takes a step towards him before two arrows burst from his chest, Kyra wastes no time in kicking him off the wall and down onto the quickly rising pile of his friends.

Looking over the wall Kyra sees a lone Stormcloak making a break for the treeline. She drops her sword and shield at her feet pulling her bow from her shoulders and drawing an arrow. She follows him for a long moment as he begins to shrink in the distance, she lifts the bow a little higher and releases.

She stands there, bow resting at her side as she watches it arc into the sun then she loses it as it falls from the azure blue sky. Her eyes fall back onto the soldier running away just as he drops out of sight in the tall grass and Kyra smiles to herself.

"Kyra look out!" One of the Imperials shouts as she turns on her heel. A soldier charges at her his sword raised high above his head, Kyra reacts on pure reflex and a stream of fire erupts from her hands flames fill the foot gap between them.

Kyra is blown back off the wall she lands in the dirt several feet below on the other side of the entrance. The impact knocks the wind out of her, she rolls onto her side gasping, her hands still smoking. She manages to catch her breath and move onto her back, arms splayed out looking up at the sky as the sounds of fighting begin to die. Two Imperials run up to her sheathing their swords.

"Are you all right?" They ask one taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.

"Oh yeah... I'm-I'm good." She says resting a hand on one's shoulder getting her bearings, her head was swimming. She looks up at the huge archway she just fell from, it looked even higher from down here, the soldiers look up with her.

"Yeah that was some fall."

"Yea...I'm good. Lock the Fort down, someone find me Rikke and a horse." The two soldiers scatter as she stoops and picks up her sword from the dirt. She holds her side as she takes a few steps takes a breath and shrugs off the pain walking back in the entrance to the Fort past the line of surrendered Stormcloaks.

"Dragonborn." Kyra stops in place and turns to Rikke as she walks up to her wiping the blood from her sword.

"Good work Rikke. Good to see you."

"You as well." Rikke replies as the warriors shake hands.

"I'm due to report in to Tullius. I'll leave you in charge. Anything you'd like to tell the General?" Kyra asks as she accepts the reigns of the horse an Imperial soldier walks up to her, she winces in pain as she mounts it.

"Just that if he intends to keep me around he needs to stop sending me to the furthest reaches of Skyrim, I miss my bed."

"You and me both Legate." Kyra digs her heels into the horse and snaps the reigns galloping through the entry way and out into the open field towards the road to Solitude.


	4. 13th of Evening Star, 4E 201

Kyra's blade slices cleanly through the mans abdomen as she pulls the axe tied to her belt with her left hand and sends it spinning through the air. She catches the large armored orc charging towards her in the left eye knocking him backwards off his feet mid stride hitting the ground with a thud, dead. Kyra plants her boot on the other soldiers chest and rips her sword from his stomach.

She turns gripping her sword in both hands and brings it down onto the neck of a soldier attacking one of the Legion soldiers sent with her on this mission. She gets sprayed with blood as she twists on her heel and cleanly parts his head from his shoulders finishing him off.

Dripping blood Kyra marches up the steps of the small encampment built on the grounds of the once mighty fortress. Her sword in her right hand, she raises her left hand as it begins to glow a deep red hue. As she approaches the gates to the fenced in cell she makes a fist as the wooden gates begin to tremble.

Kyra turns her clenched fist up and towards her shoulder in a curling motion. Her arm tightly flexed muscles showing through her black armor as the wooden gates explode off their hinges and clatter to the ground. The prisoners begin spilling out of the makeshift pen and running down the steps a few pausing to attack nearby captors.

Kyra drives her sword into a guards back, her left hand circling around his neck and cupping his chin arching his back and pulling him towards her as she thrusts the blade through his spine and out through his chest. She yanks her sword out and pushes him off the staircase continuing her relentless march towards victory.

A soldier charges at her from behind his axe raised high above his head, Kyra turns in place her blade coming up in the hastily narrowing gap between them and braces herself as the attacker throws himself on her sword. She reaches up with her left hand holding his axe above his head as she watches him die, their eyes only inches from one another's, as he struggles against her.

His eyes are wide with pain as she retrieves her sword from his body and pushes him back, the soldier stiffly falling like a downed tree. She lashes out with her sword again her blade cutting across a soldiers face as it sings through the air.

She turns and looks down the long staircase at the bodies scattered down its steps. Freed prisoners were already stacking the bodies of their captors, raising salvaged swords and celebrating with loud shouts of victory.

Kyra sheaths her sword in its scabbard and puts both hands on her knees exhaling slowly trying to slow her heart rate. She watches the droplets of blood and sweat drip from her armor and hair, dripping one by one on the cobblestone. She can hear the sound of each drop as she lets her eyes close and tries to slow her breathing.

"Dragonborn!" The shout shatters her focus as she looks up straightening to her full height and wiping her forehead with her arm. The man approaches her clasping her gloved hand and shaking it vigorously.

"I can't express my gratitude for rescuing my men and I." Kyra nods extricating her hand and smiles.

"You're most welcome." She claps her hand on his shoulder and walks past him as he shouts his thanks again after her.

"That was some display." A voice says as a figure emerges from a dark corner of the walkway coming around a column of stone, Kyra turns in place drawing her blood stained sword.

"Easy Dragonborn." A pretty brunette makes her way into the light and smiles, Lya.

"I'll be damned." Kyra says as the two young women spread their arms and embrace. Kyra lifts Lya off the ground as they hug tighter. They part and step back looking each other over, both sheathing their swords in near perfect sync.

"Lya, by the gods, what are you doing here?" They turn in place at the same time arms sliding around each other. They both take the circular walkway towards the stairs leading to the fortress' main courtyard.

"You said I should come see Skyrim, here I am." Lya says with a coy smile Kyra rolls her eyes.

"Just to see me huh?"

"Ye-ok no. I hitched a ride with some adventurer types, they're looking for this charm they called it um - Geldars' Amulet." Kyra stops in place cocking her head eyes narrowing quizzically.

"Gauldars Amulet." Kyra corrects as they resume the moonlit walk down the cobblestone steps, Imperial soldiers carrying corpses brushing by them.

"Yea that."

"And they needed a thief whose as good at finding the thing as she is spotting the traps protecting it." Kyra says finishing the most logical path on her own.

"Exactly. Must be some treasure to pay my fee plus the travel from Cyrodiil, know anything about it?" They take the steps one at a time in no real rush, absorbed in their conversation.

"A bit. I found one fragment of it during some work I did for the College of Winterhold." Lya puts her hand on Kyra's shoulder stopping her.

"You have a piece of it?" Kyra spots the gleam in Lyas eyes, she was back on the hunt. They continue across the courtyard walking under the main archway and down the path lit by the moonlight leading away from the fortress.

"Come on kid, don't show up after a year and treat me like an idiot." Kyra says fixing her nearest thing to a sister with her sideways older sister like stare.

"Ok so they told me the College had found and catalogued a chunk of it, and you mentioned in your letter you were doing some work for the College..." Lya says, her voice trailing off giving Kyra an awkward "caught me" smile.

"You saw you had an in." Kyra says finishing Lyas sentence again.

"Yea sorry it's really good to see you though." Lya says shoving Kyra a little bumping her shoulder against hers. Kyra stumbles a step and easily regains her stride managing a smile, not feeling too bad about it.

"You too."

"So big sister, you're the Dragonborn. You defeated a dragon, loved that bit by the way, you fight like Pelagius the Mad which was a stunning display of swordsmanship if I may say so..."

"You may." Kyra says with a prideful smirk as they pass the stables, a wolf howls in the distance.

"You've come a long way from hunting down the Dominion. How's Aela?"

"Alright I guess, she wants to move to the Capitol."

"Cyrodiil?" Lya asks perking up at the hope of having her best friend home again, helping rebuild the long since sacked Imperial City, things just haven't been the same since she left.

"Solitude. She wants me to think of her daughter. You know, education, opportunities, friends..."

"The normal life." Lya finishes as the pair walk along the running river the road runs beside.

"Yeah because I'm normal." Kyra rolls her eyes and kicks a small rock with her boot.

"Well we're too young and beautiful for settling down." Lya says resting her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Yea things are a little serious between us I guess."

"Too serious?" Lya asks looking sideways at the girl who always took care of her.

"A little I guess." Kyra says after a long pause, looking at the ground as they walk a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Since when has anyone dictated your life for you? I'm disappointed." Kyra blows the air from her lungs and her shoulders relax.

"God I've missed having someone to talk to." Kyra says with a relieved smile and puts her arm around Lyas shoulders. They both stop in place at the same time looking around.

"Kyra?"

"Yea, I just realized it too."

"Where are we?"

"I have no idea."


	5. 16th of Evening Star, 4E 201

"So we're looking up at this thing right? Biggest ugliest damn troll I've ever seen my mouth is on the floor..." Lya says after taking a long gulp of her mead, pulling her knee to her chest one bare foot resting on her chair.

"It wasn't! It was not! I've fought way bigger." Kyra says laughing as she refills her ale from a bottle as Aela adjusts herself on Kyra's lap and laughs into her tankard.

"It's growling at her and Kyra has shoved me behind her. I don't know why I'm the one who woke it up, I'm lucky she didn't feed me to it. Kyra raises her sword and goes, I'm not kidding the best stone face I've ever seen, says "Hey. Knock it off." to the seven foot troll! I'm like wha- and Kyra yells "You heard me! Go on get!" and the thing takes off!"

"It did not." Kyra says shaking her head laughing as she drinks from her mug.

"It did."

"You were seven!" Kyra shouts across the table a big smile, like Aela had never seen before, creasing her pretty face.

"I still remember!" Lya shouts back tossing a piece of fruit at Kyra.

"Shes lying, absolute fiction." Kyra says into her ale shaking her head, suppressing a laugh in between sips. Her boots tilted up on the table Aela draped across her lap, Kyra's arm resting across her stomach.

"How old were you?" Aela asks as she slides over into her own chair reaching across the big dining table for the mead bottle Lya was hogging. The light from the fireplace at the end of the table glinting off the jewelry on her wrist and the bottle of mead.

"Oh gods, who knows? How old are you now kid?" Kyra asks eating a piece of apple from the plate in front of her.

"Uh eighteen I think? I've lost track."

"So I was like... ten." Kyra says laughing and biting into another sliced bit of apple. Lya laughs and drinks then laughs again as she looks down into her meade shaking her head. Lya looks up at the huge chandelier hanging over the dining table and around at the rest of Winstad Manor as seen from the long dining table.

"What a great place."

"We're hoping we'll be relocating soon." Aela says nudging Kyra with her shoulder.

"We are, I've been absent alot lately so we haven't had the chance to browse property. Although why one of the five I already own aren't good enough." Kyra says as Lyas eyebrow arches sipping from her mead.

"Five properties?"

"Well after my defeat of the World Eater a couple of the cities and holds were quite grateful. Good land just had to do the building like Windstad." Kyra says refilling her ale as Aela slides her arms around Kyras neck and kisses her cheek.

"I think the city will be a nice change of pace. My daughter is friends with the Jarls children in Solitude." Aela says turning to look at Lya. Lya looks over her glass at Kyra, their eyes meet as an unheard conversation takes place. Kyra can't hold Lyas judgmental gaze as she looks down into her ale.

"There's so much I don't know about you, you came from Cyrodiil? What did you two do there?" Aela asks as she rests her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.

"This and that." Kyra says cryptically as she sips from her mug cradling it in both hands.

"Oh come on." Lya says rolling her eyes and smirks.

"You name it we did it, we worked for the Thieves Guild, the Fighters Guild, we were muscle for the Mages once or twice. We were with this outfit that was hunting down little pockets of the Aldmeri Dominion, left in Cyrodiil after the Great War, before this one here decided to run off to Skyrim. Talos knows why." Lya adds pausing to take a pull of her meade.

"Wow that's a little more than I expected." Aela replies refilling her meade and taking a long drink from the tankard.

"We went where the money took us I guess." Kyra says as she stretches in place arms extended above her head as she yawns.

"Well I should call it a night." Aela sets her drink down as she rises unsteadily to her feet.

"You go on I think we're going to catch up." Kyras boots fall to the floor and she stands up.

She grips the bottle of ale by the neck and grabs two cups in her other hand nodding for Lya to follow. She pushes the door to the Library open with her foot and they take the spiral staircase through the trapdoor to the open air canopy atop the tower. Kyra fills the two glasses and sets the bottle on the railing as they lean against it and knock the wooden cups together. They sip their ale in silence looking out at the snow lit by the moonlight.

"What are you really here for Lya? No bullshit about an amulet." Kyra finally breaks the silence turning to lean with her back to the railing her elbows resting on it.

"You."

"Me."

"Let's not do this right now Kyra..." They both look down into their respective cups and drink them almost in sync. A long moment passes before Lya speaks again.

"I found him. He's here, in Skyrim." Lya looks up at her oldest and closest friend, her green eyes glassy pools in the lantern and moonlight.

"So that's why you're here."

"You've worked with the Dark Brotherhood before."

"I left the Brotherhood in case you didn't get that letter."

"That is not fair! They have Skyrim locked down, no unauthorized murders, period. This isn't like Cyrodiil where you jus-Kyra. Once upon a time I helped you get yours. It's my turn now." Lya says as Kyra meets her gaze and after a long moment nods in resolute silence. Lya drops her leather bag on the small table and searches for her journal. Kyra takes one more big gulp of ale.

"All right, you'll get yours. Let's get me up to speed." Lya slaps a sketch onto the table.

"His name is Torvayn Iignar and four very reliable sources say he's the man who killed my mom."


	6. 25th of Evening Star, 4E 201

Kyra snaps the reigns and digs her heels into the horse as she leans forward, peering through the flurries of falling snow and the darkness. She whips the reigns on the horses right flank then left and digs her heels in again. She can't see the road ahead of her and she could barely see the way beneath her as the grade increases and she passes the landmark the man at the Inn mentioned.

"Run by bandits." The Innkeeper said as he dried a mug with a hand cloth.

"And you're sure you saw her?" Kyra asked as she pushed the black hood back from her face.

"Even called her Lya. Sounded like she was expecting to see someone else though."

"How sure are you about that distance? A half hours ride? A left at the fork, a right through the treeline and up the east side of the mountain?" Kyra shrugged off her leather pack and retrieved her journal.

She dropped it on the bar and flipped through the faded yellowing pages until she found one of her roughly sketched maps of the Pale. She located the Inn and traced the route tapping her finger at the end point, the Innkeeper nodding.

"About there yes." Kyra closed the old beat up journal and shouldered her pack again.

"Thanks for your help, what's your most expensive bottle?"

"The FireBrand wine, 200 septims, can never move the stuff."

"I'll take two."

Kyra blinks away the snow as she sees the stack of rocks marking the path towards the abandoned fort. As she enters the tree cover the snow begins to dissipate and she can see more clearly. She pulls back on the reigns slowing a little as the terrain gets a little rougher.

"Whoa." She says as she slides herself out of the saddle and ties the horse to a low tree branch. Her boots crunch in the freshly fallen snow as she makes her way closer to what she could now see were the lights coming from the windows of the fort. Kyra makes her way to the treeline and takes a knee in the snow looking up at the once abandoned fort.

Two guards at each entrance and there were six archers on the walls, she couldn't see anything beyond them. Kyra looks up at the full moon and the starlit sky, it was almost three in the morning. She gives the situation some careful thought as she fingers the powdery snow in her gloved hand watching it fall back to the ground.

"Dammit." She says quietly to herself, knowing she only had one option. She exits the treeline removing her sword belt holding it outstretched in her right hand. She watches the men become aware of her as she walks up the path lit by torches.

"Halt!" The guard at the entrance shouts as she comes within a few feet and he draws his sword, above her head she could hear the familiar creaking of arrows being drawn back in their bows.

"I need to talk to your boss." Kyra says as the bandit steps closer to her.

"What is a pretty girl like you doing out in snowfall like this?" The second bandit guarding the entrance asks as they both approach her, Kyra rests her hands by her sides.

"My friend is in there, she's another pretty girl I'm sure you've seen her." Kyra's eyes follow the guard who circles around her looking over every inch of her armor clad body, he even smells her.

"That's close enough." She says, her tone level but cautioning. His hand slides over her hip as the other guard just chuckles to himself.

The bandit grabs her wrist and Kyra locks her left hand over his hand in a death grip circling her trapped right hand around his wrist, twisting it violently and shoving him to his knees as he cries out in pain.

Kyra frees the lock on his wrist when she hears it snap and she reaches around pulling the Elven blade from the small of her back. She presses the sharp blade to his throat as she hauls him to his feet, her impromptu shield. She shoves her black hood back from her face.

"Stop!" She says to the guard who, no longer laughing, is in the middle of drawing his sword. Kyra arches her eyebrow as if to say "don't try it", as she adds pressure to the blade and a drop of blood slides down the mans neck.

"I just want to talk." She looks up at the archers aiming at her.

"Just let her talk to Ravnir." The man she has locked against her pleads as he clutches his broken wrist gritting his teeth in pain. The guard looks up at the archers and nods, Kyra exhales as they relax their stance and the guard pulls the chain opening the gate.

"He's in the tower. Your pretty girl is too." He adds as she stoops to pick up her sword belt from the ground and marches under the entry way, crossing the courtyard. She could feel the eyes of the bandits on her. She takes the steps to the tower doors and they swing open as she approaches the last five steps. Two bandits with Orc battle-axes approach her.

"Lose the sword." Kyra hands it to him.

"The dagger too." The voice from behind her says as the bandit with the broken wrist brushes past her shoving his shoulder into hers. Kyra smirks as she slides her fingers under the front waist line of her chest plate and finds the buckle for the hand tooled sheath that belts the blade along the small of her back. She looks up at the big Nord as she drops it into his waiting hands.

"Follow me." Kyra falls into step as they take the wide staircase spiraling up the tower. As they climb higher the sounds of laughter grow louder. They go through a set of doors that opens to a wide dining area.

The space is lit by firelight and torches, the cool night air coming in from the windows. Kyra's eyes fall on Lya who's sitting in a comfortable chair at the table laughing with what Kyra assumed to be Ravnir the leader. Lya laughs into her mead, the cup tilted to her lips as she takes a long pull and looks up.

"O-Hey! There she is." Lya leans over and slaps Ravnirs bicep pointing to Kyra standing in the doorway.

"I told you so." She adds downing the last of her cup.

"So this is Kyra. I have to say after all the stories this ones been telling me...well. I have to say you're just as I pictured." Ravnir says as he gestures to a seat across from him, Kyra looks at it for a moment then pulls it out and sits down. Ravnir looks at her as he slowly chews a bite from the apple in his hand. Kyra doesn't hold his gaze, instead she turns her eyes on Lya.

"Are you being mistreated?" She asks ignoring Ravnir for the moment, Lya vigorously, drunkenly, shakes her head from side to side.

"He's been a perfect gentleman."

"She came here looki-" Ravnir begins but Kyra cuts him off her eyes returning to stare at him.

"Torvayn Iignar."

"Yes."

"Do you know where he is? Or was this just convenient?"

"A little of both, I may know a guy who knows your guy."

"How much?"

"For the girl or the information?"

"Both."

"That's a big number."

"Try me."

"Twenty five thousand."

"Ten."

"Twenty five thousand."

"Lets up the stakes then."

"To?"

"Your life." Kyra swings the crossbow she had hidden behind the leather cape of her black armor lashed to her spine. She lets it drops onto the table pointed across at Ravnirs sternum.

The bandit by the door charges at her and she slides her fingers under one of her bracers and flicks the tiny hidden blade across the room. It glints in the air in the light of the fireplace as it plunges into the bandits left eye. He falls to his knees screaming clutching at the small knife blood streaming down his face. Lyas mouth is agape as she looks at the situation unfolding around her.

"Wow." She says and takes a bite of a piece of bread eyes still wide with drunken surprise.

"Ok. Ok. Lets jus-lets just talk about this." Ravnir nervously as he looks around for an escape, there is none, Kyra shakes her head.

"That times past."

"I told you so." Lya says again with a smile.

"Shut up Lya, get your bag. Now Ravnir, Torvayn." Kyra levels the crossbow, extended in her right hand pointed across the table at his nose. Ravnir throws his hands up, eyes almost crossed as he looks at the point on the bolt.

"Uh-"

" "Uh" isn't the response I was looking for Ravnir." Kyra says raising her tone a little, she drops her gloved finger into the trigger.

"Karthwasten! His name is Josin hes done business with your guy thats all I know." Kyra rises to her feet and walks around the table.

"Lets go Lya."

"You're not going to kill him?"

"Lets go Lya." She says grabbing the back of her chestplate and physically moves the girl in front of her, pushing her towards the door.

"Forward, march."

"Watch it."


	7. 31st of Evening Star, 4E 201

"Torvayn has moved up in the world." Kyra says putting her hands palms flat on the long table with the blueprints of Torvayns estates and the maps of the surrounding areas. Her eyes wander over them for the thousandth time, her deep blue eyes glassy pools in the candlelight as she moves it closer.

Lya doesn't reply as she drags her ebony blade down the hand sized sharpening stone, her boots on the table tilted back in her chair. Kyra slaps the table with both hands.

"It cannot be done Lya, not here. Not his compound south of Solitude, not his mansion in Whiterun, not this fortress outside of Karthwasten-"

"Then we'll take him on the road." Lya says, finally speaking for the first time in a couple of hours.

"The man travels with a platoon."

"Come on." Lya gives her a look.

"So it's not a platoon but it's damn close."

"I vote for Karthwasten." Lya says as Kyra flips the maps over until she finds the blueprint of the compound at Karthwasten, she looks down at it and frowns.

"This place is the worst of them all archer walks, sally ports, two man roving patrols on the outer grounds and four crows nests nestled high in the surrounding woods." Kyra says as she drums her fingers on the parchment.

"That's why they'll never see it coming."

"No that's exactly why they'll see it comi- Lya, those kinds of fights... they're just stories I told you before bed. No one actually wins when they try the "least expected" plan, they're expecting it that's the whole idea." Lya looks away swinging her bottle of mead in one hand, she growls and punches the wall.

"What if we get to someone on the inside?" Lya turns back to Kyra and leans over the table opposite her looking up into her eyes.

"Torvayn pays too well. I chatted one up in a bar in Whiterun, he makes double what any sellsword I know pulls in." Kyra refills her ale.

"What if we put someone on the inside?" Lya says after a long moment spent staring at the blueprints, her eyes wandering over it, one arm across her chest her right hand holding her other elbow chewing on the end of her finger in thought. Lya fixes Kyra with a look, Kyra's eyes search Lyas for a moment before they widen.

"No way."

"You're the only one who can, you're a one man army. We need a coordinated assault from out and within, you're the only one who could pull it off."

"Lya this is a really bad idea." A smile slowly creeps across Lyas face as she watches Kyra consider it for a long moment and the edge of Kyras mouth curls into her trademark smirk.

"So you'll do it."

"Yea. I'll do it."

The guards drag Kyra through the hall for what feels like the eleven thousandth time. Each strong man carrying her by her arms letting her feet drag behind her as blood drips from the cuts and bruises on her face. Her once well maintained black leather armor was in tatters, blood welling in several cuts to her upper body.

They unlock her cell and unceremoniously dump her onto the ground, her head bounces off the cold and rough stone floor making her whimper. She winces in pain as she rolls on her back and holds her side probing her injuries with as little movement as possible, her ribs felt like they were in pieces. Her left eye was almost swollen shut.

Six days, she thinks silently to herself. Nothing to worry about Kyra I'll be back for you in three days... you're a dead woman Lya. Kyra closes her eyes and tries to focus on healing but the magic wouldn't come.

"I see you live to be tortured another day." The by now familiar hissing tone of the Argonian sharing the cell across from her own pipes in, breaking her focus.

"I'm not in the mood." Kyra winces as she speaks her jaw hurt like hell.

"That's too bad. You really should keep your spirits up, it'll make all of this a lot easier." The Argonian laughs as Kyra shoves her palms over her ears. She gives it a good ten count before she removes them.

"So have they moved on to rape yet? A pretty human like you..." The Argonian makes a sound that clearly involves alot of tongue, it makes Kyra wince again.

"Not yet." Kyra says, getting a little angry that there actually was a silver lining in all this, the bastard.

"They will soon I'm sure. Only a matter of time really." Kyra rolls her eyes and blows the air from her lungs in a huff which sends pain shooting up her side.

"Thanks for the update." Kyra says, gritting her teeth in pain her tone of voice not really thankful at all.

"I hope they do it in your cell so I can watch." Kyra cocks her head to one side as she hears something that makes her sit straight up.

"Shh."

"It'll be so ple-"

"Shut up!" Kyra's eyes widen as she hurriedly begins unlacing her boot, her ears now confirming the sounds of heavy fighting coming from outside.

She pulls the boot off her foot and flips it in her hand, running her finger along the seam of the inside fold where the sole is joined with the boot itself. She peels it apart and retrieves the flat stamped metal lockpick she had concealed. She tugs her boot back on as she jumps up and throws herself against the cell door.

She bends one end of the stamped metal and pulls the tension tool away from its molded depression flush within the handle of the pick. She shoves the tools into the lock and bites the inside of her cheek as the Argonian grabs the bars of his cell door.

"What are you- How did you-" Kyra exclaims in triumph as the lock finally twists and she swings the door open. She exits the cell and the guard sitting in his chair at the end of the row of cells looks up at her and fumbles for his sword. Kyra kicks off her back foot sprinting to close the gap between them and launches herself at him.

She slams into the guard and they both go tumbling to the ground, the chair breaks as they hit the floor and her first swing goes wide knocking the table above her head over. A bottle of mead breaks as the table falls on its side the warm liquid runs under Kyra's cheek as the guard pushes one side of her face into the dirt repeatedly punching her side and abdomen with his armored hand.

Kyra strikes the guard with two rapid blows, one to the throat and a flat strike to his sternum. She grips the guards arms near the elbows forcing his arms to full extension and tight against her sides. She relaxes her hip hooking one leg across his shoulders in the small space between them and shifts her weight rolling the guard under her. She locks her thighs around his upper body and tries to control his flailing hands as she digs her fingers into the torn and shredded left sleeve of her armor.

She tugs the long strand of Dwarven wire sewn into the underside fabric from its stitching and wraps it around her hands. The guards eyes widen in surprise as Kyra wraps the wire around his throat and forces her fists apart, taking the tension out of it in a white knuckled grip. His eyes begin to bulge out of his head as Kyra rides his writhing upper body, letting his arms and hands claw harmlessly at her sides, arms and face. She grits her teeth grunting as she slams his head back into the ground once then twice.

The fingers of one gloved hand drag down her cheek, an exposed finger and nail find purchase and dig into her bruised skin. Kyra lets out an animal like growl and struggles to tighten the wire even further as it cuts into his skin. She increases the grip her thighs have on his upper body as he bucks her into the air one last time and finally goes limp. Kyra unwinds the wire from his throat and picks up his sword rising to her feet, panting and brushing some matted bangs from her cheek.

"You're going to let me out right?" The Argonian asks as Kyra walks by him, she doesn't answer as she pushes open the door a little, just enough for her to get through to the outer section of the compound, the sounds of fighting grow to ear-splitting levels.

"Hey! Hey! Don-" Kyra still doesn't reply as she holds her side and squeezes through the narrow gap slamming the door shut behind her.


	8. 1st of Morning Star, 4E 202

"Torvayn! Don't move means stop running!" Lya yells as she vaults over a boulder and sprints down the narrow tunnel with Kyra close in tow. It took them all of five minutes after Kyra escaped and met up with Lya for them to make their way into the cellar of the main estate. Once inside the cellar they scrambled into the escape tunnel Torvayn had dug when he built the compound. His only mistake had been trusting a contractor to build a secret tunnel who could not keep a secret.

"The more you make me run- Torvayn I swear-!" Lya shouts at him as she ducks narrowly missing a protruding wooden beam.

Torvayn runs through the end of the tunnel the mouth opening into a wide natural cavern towering at least fifty feet overhead spanning several hundred yards. Lya and Kyra are still hot on his trail the pair far more fit and agile than Torvayn, and they were quickly narrowing the gap. A shadowy figure comes around a massive stone column and clotheslines Torvayn knocking him off his feet, kneeling over him.

"Stop!" A voice echoes through the cavern as two more figures melt out of the shadows and the pair skid to a halt. Kyra leans down putting her hands on her knees for a moment before straightening wiping her arm across her forehead. She peers into the darkness as torches flame to life illuminating the figures in red and black armor, their faces hidden behind cowls and hoods.

"Astrid." Kyra says resting one hand on her hip the other on the hilt of her sword, Lya looks at her then back at the assassins.

"How do you-"

"The eyes." Kyra mutters as she brushes past Lya and closes the gap between them.

"You really thought you could go on a hunt for that much information, throw around that much coin and we would never put it together?" Astrid says as she moves out of the shadows.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were going to kill someone, a Thane at that, without permission from the Brotherhood. You would never do that...would you sister?"

"I'm not your sister anymore Astrid."

"You will always be my sister Kyra. We made memories I cherish far too much for you to ever be anything else."

"That's sweet but.." Kyra lets her voice trail off, her thumb sliding against the hand struck pommel at the hilt of her sword. Her thumb extends, flicking the sword an inch out of the scabbard ready to be drawn.

"You honestly don't expect to fight all of us and still kill Torvayn?"

"I'll give it a good effort." Kyra says as one of the hooded figures throws a luminescent orange bottle on to the ground and smoke begins to fill the immediate area.

Kyra charges into the smoke drawing her sword, after a few moments the smoke begins to dissipate and they're already gone. Their movements were barely discernible in the distance by the foliage, branches and leaves still wavering in their wake. She scowls as she shoves her sword back into its scabbard, Lya appears at her side and they both stare out at the cavern.

"What the hell?" She asks after a long moment of silence gesturing to the empty air in front of them.

"I warned you about this." Kyra says as the women turn to face each other.

"No you said we'll do it anyway not that the Brotherhood would steal him right out from under us!"

"I said they would find out I also said we don't know what they would do."

"I want that man dead Kyra!"

"Just let me think all right?" Kyra kicks the dirt as she turns away and runs her hand through her silky black hair. She felt a strange sense of déjà vu, the little cons and schemes they pulled as kids, holing up somewhere still out of breath from running, just until the guards stopped looking for them.

"Kyra...look at me." Kyra turns back to face Lya and leans back against one of the stone columns, folding her arms across her chest. Lya moves closer and looks Kyra over. Her armor shredded, her body and face cut and bruised, she hadn't seen Kyra this beat up since they were Associates for the Bravil Fighters Guild.

"You're a mess." Lya says as Kyra manages a small laugh, looking down at the ground as Lya brushes some hair from her cheeks. Kyra nuzzles her hand and exhales looking up into Lyas green eyes. Lya hadn't touched her like that since...well, since she left Cyrodiil.

"Come on. We're not getting Torvayn tonight, we need somewhere to fall back to and out here in the Pale, that's easier said than done." Their eyes break their contact and Lya takes her hand away, the moment shattering like glass. Kyra nods as if coming back to reality pushing herself off of the stone column.

"I've got just the place." They slide their arms around one another and they walk back up the tunnel the way they came.

"Don't tell me, another house?" Lya rolls her eyes as Kyra smirks.

"Be it ever so humble."

Kyra slaps the horse on the ass as it trots into the stable and she shuts the gate. Lya stares up at Haljarchen Hall as Kyra knots the rope tieing the gate to the stall frame.

"You call this humble?" Lya asks as they crunch their way through the snow to the double doors of the entry hall.

"Well." Kyra walks up the steps to the doors and locates the shadowmark, the symbol for "Protected" carved into the thick wooden door frame, and pulls out the stone next to it, retrieving the key to the steel and oak double doors.

She unlocks it and pushes it open replacing the key gesturing for Lya to come in. She pushes the black hood back from her face and tugs it over her head and off, ruffling her hair with her gloved hand. She removes her gloves and knocks the snow from her boots dropping them onto the empty table by the door.

"Go on in." Kyra says nodding to the next set of doors as she locks the door behind them, dropping the wooden bar across the frame.

Lya walks through the entry way and into the main hall. There was already a fire going, and all the candles were lit. The entire house was warm, the floors were clean, the estate was well tended. Lya picks up an expensive bottle of wine and reads the label before she looks up and around at the sheer opulence, feeling a little out of place. A big burly man comes down one set of stairs, and looks up at her.

"Lya?"

"Jod?" Lyas eyes widen in surprise as she runs up to the former Legionnaire, jumping into his arms her arms and legs encircling him. Kyra walks in and smiles at the sight closing the doors behind her.

"Everyone in Cyrodiil thinks you're dead old man." Lya drops to her feet and slugs him in the bicep, Lya turns to Kyra pointing to Jod.

"This you couldn't mention?"

"He asked me not to, it's a secret he says." Kyra says turning her hands up in surrender as Lya wheels back on Jod.

"What did you do?" She asks admonishingly, poking him in the chest. The hulking Nord drops his big hand in her hair and ruffles it like he had for as long as she could remember, especially when he wasn't going to answer her question. Lya gives him a look narrowing her eyes, and turns back to the dining table looking for the mead.

"My Thane, welcome home." He adds turning to Kyra, he bows his head slightly.

"You make him call you Thane?" Lyas mouth falls open.

"I do not!" Kyra looks up from pouring her ale looking hurt as she tilts her chair back and kicks her boots onto the table.

"She is my Thane Lya, I'll address her as such." They sit down at the table with Kyra as cups begin to be filled with various drinks. Kyra looks up at them the scene reminiscent of hundreds of nights just like this, with her true family.

"Look at you two kids back together again." Jod looks up from his mead after more than his share of drinks to where Kyra and Lya sit.

Their chairs were facing each other feet almost touching, leaning with elbows on their knees. They talk in quiet tones with hushed laughs, little touches, faces hidden by hair falling across their cheeks, just as they had since he'd known them. Were it on a ship bound for battle, small camps deep in the mountains, the pair always seemed to find a quiet corner. They turn in sync looking at him, Kyra wipes her mouth after sipping her mead and laughs.

"Just like old times right? I was just thinking the same thing." Kyra says as they both scoot their chairs closer to Jods side of the table.

"What're you doing here Lya?" He asks as he refills all three glasses, while Kyras was still half full of ale.

She looks down at it, shrugs, then takes a long pull from it. Kyra and Lyas eyes meet for long moment having one of their silent conversations, Jod had seen them do this countless times over the years he had been the Journeyman in charge of their sword training. Of course they were maybe nine at the time, he shakes his head, how they have grown and how they haven't changed at all.

"Come on you two out with it."

"Lya found him." Kyra says as Lya timidly puts her face in her cup and pretends to drink, after a moment she decides to quit pretending and starts to down the entire tankard.

"The man who killed your mom?" Lya nods without stopping the big gulps of mead, she was committed now.

"Put that damn drink down young lady and look at me." Lya slaps the tankard down empty and wipes her mouth. Exhaling, she looks up at the man who was the closest thing she'd ever had to a father. If a father was a guy who taught you how to fight, who showed you discipline, and made sure you were at least a decent person when you grew up.

"I thought you gave this up."

"Jod I-"

"No excuses. The path of vengeance won't get you a place in Sovngarde." Jod levels a finger at her the rest of his hand curled around his tankard he takes a long pull as he finishes.

"But I-"

"You listen to me, I kept you alive on this plane of existence and I won't have your spirit writhing for eternity in some Oblivion nightmare. The job is off."

"Jod!" Lya protests as Kyra shakes her head chuckling to herself.

"Yeah exactly like old times."


	9. The Fifth Hour

The festivities that began at nearly the second hour when the wayward travellers stumbled in from the snow, went almost until dawn. Laughs and drinks, stories told by firelight. Near the fifth hour Jod lumbers his way up to bed as Kyra and Lya sit on the stone floor near the fireplace, Kyra's arms wrapped around Lya as she sips her ale.

"I have to hand it to you you've made quite the life for yourself here." Lya says adjusting herself a little laying back against Kyra.

"I do all right." Their fingers interlace as they gaze into the fire slowly fading in the fireplace.

"A girlfriend and everything..." Lya says looking down at the floor.

"Lya..."

"No it's-its fine. Actually it's not fine." Lya pulls away from her and gets to her feet.

"Whats wrong?"

"You left, that's whats wrong. You left the fight, and then you left us. You left your friends, your responsiblities...you left me, because some drunk in Cheydinhal says you might be Dragonborn?" Lya says, her green eyes flickering in the fading light as she wipes a few angry tears from her eyes.

"I wrote you, every chance I got, every city I stopped in..." Kyra approaches her sliding her hand down Lyas arm.

"I still love you, you know. Don't think just because it's been almost three years that I've just forgotten what you said you swore you loved me t-" Kyra shakes her head from side to side and brushes the hair from her cheek leaning in to kiss her soft lips. She could taste her tears as she slides Lyas hands down her sides and rests them on her hips.

"Come to bed." Kyra says as they sway a little in the glow of the firelight, her eyes meeting Lyas. Lya nods as Kyra takes her hand turning and leading towards the stairs as Lya reaches out for the bottle of wine on the edge of the table, barely circling her fingers around it before she gets yanked along behind Kyra.

The air in the room was heavy, the fire had burned all night and the room was a furnace. Lya drops her bare feet onto the hard wooden floor pulling a throw made from a snow bear pelt around her naked body, she puts out the fire for good, smothering it with a thick leather hide thrown over the smoldering remains. She slides back into bed working her way back against Kyra's warm body. Sliding her fingers down her soft skin, Kyra makes a barely audible sound and moves a little.

"Awake already?" Kyra mumbles sleepily a small smile creasing her face as she rubs her cheek against her pillow.

"It was unbelievably hot in here." Lya exposes Kyras shoulder and pressing her lips to it. Kyra turns in place, on to her stomach and sits up on her elbows pressing her lips to Lyas.

"I agree." Kyra's lips part and their tongues meet. Kyra pushes aside the blanket sliding on to Lyas lap as her hair spills down Lyas pillow, her bare legs sliding over Lyas hips.

Kyra feels Lyas hands slide up her back pulling her closer as their kiss deepens, Kyra grinding herself on Lyas lap. Lyas lips travel across Kyra's cheek, the underside of her jaw and up her neck to her earlobe.

Lya slides it between her teeth nibbling on it making Kyra whimper. She could feel Lyas hand slide down her side and in between them and she raises on her knees a little to give access to Lyas fingers as they slide over her clit.

"I've missed you." Lya says softly her lips pressed to Kyra's ear as she uses her free hand to push Kyras hip down, sinking two of her long fingers into Kyras wet opening until she rests in Lyas palm.

Lya loved the way it made Kyra tremble and gasp against her, how every muscle in Kyra's body tightened, even the ones surrounding her fingers. Kyra was warm and wet, and Lya was in heaven with the beautiful woman back in her bed. They never show it not since Lya confessed her feelings to Kyra that night, standing soaked in the rain outside of Anvil shouting over the wind, but Lya loved her more than anything on Tamriel.

Kyras dark hair falls across her face, her eyes closed as she slowly rises and falls on Lyas fingers. Kyra manages only soft gasping breaths and small whimpers as she runs her hand over her left breast flicking her hair back from her face and biting her lower lip. Her free hand falls on to the headboard as she gasps feeling Lya add a third finger, she moans out her name.

Kyra pulls Lyas face to her breasts, Lyas lips burn into her skin as her tongue encircles her right nipple. It becomes erect in her mouth as Kyra's fingers slide through Lyas hair and she gasps softly lips pressed into Lyas mane of soft brown ringlets. Lya looks up at Kyra who smiles softly tracing her finger down Lyas cheek and pressing her lips to hers.

Lya slides her fingers out of Kyra and slowly brings them to her lips tasting her. She rests her hands on her hips, falling back into the pillows as Kyra leans down to kiss her, still whimpering and trembling. Lya brings Kyra's hips forward up her body as Kyra helps her, moving her knees up to slide Lyas head between them. Kyra slides her fingers through Lyas hair as she presses her wet slit to Lyas lips. Lyas tongue almost immediately makes its way up Kyra's length as Kyra tosses her head back.

"Lya... G-Shit." She cries out to the ceiling as she tries to keep her thighs from clenching around Lyas head. Kyra inhales sharply feeling Lyas tongue push its way inside her. Her nails dig into the wood of the headboard as she whimpers.

Lyas lips encircle her clit as she pulls Lyas head closer with a fistful of her hair. It had been so long since she'd felt Lyas touch, she'd nearly forgotten what it felt like to be hers. She tries not to think about Aela, and how this makes twice she's been unfaithful to her girlfriend. Lya holds Kyras hips and rolls her onto her back looking up into those big blue eyes as her tongue enters her again.

Kyras lower body bucks forcing Lya to hold her down with both hands. Kyras fingers slide through Lyas soft ringlets of chestnut hair as she tosses her head back and moans, her slender back arching. Her knees bend and fall apart as she bucks against Lyas lips. Kyras moans grow more urgent as she digs her teeth into half of her lower lip and reaches up. She braces her hand against the headboard pushing herself back into the bed.

Lya looks up at almost the instant that Kyra looks down, her blue eyes betraying how close she was to pure ecstasy. It only encourages Lya, her tongue sliding up her length and Kyras hands slide down the sheets balling them up in her fists. Lyas hands find hers and their fingers interlace.

Kyras moans turn to a near scream as she arches and climaxes at the moment Lyas tongue enters her again. She grips Lyas hands so tight her knuckles give an audible pop as Kyra tries to form words and fails, instead pulling Lya to her lips and kissing her. A kiss that feels like it lasts an eternity Kyra's leg hooking over Lyas waist her foot sliding down the back of her thigh.

Lya circles Kyra in her arms as Kyra tries to catch her breath, panting against Lyas chest. Lya runs her fingers down Kyras body inch by inch examining all the fresh scars she'd acquired since the last they saw one another. She leans down and kisses a particularly jagged and angry red scar running up her left shoulder blade and over her shoulder, she slides her hand down Kyra's arm.

"What happened?" Lya asks as Kyra looks over her shoulder, Lya couldn't believe how much she had missed looking into those eyes. Even before she knew she was Dragonborn, those blue eyes had a flame to them that drew Lya in like a moth. They almost luminesced with an ethereal twilight of their own.

"A Draugrs axe." Kyra closes her eyes again and lets out a contented sigh as she snuggles up to her pillow, Lya kisses the scar again.

She feels Lyas lips work their way up her shoulder to her neck and then to her ear as Kyra starts to drift off to sleep. Lya tries to put her feelings at that very moment, of which there were many, into words . Concern for her well being, how happy she was to be here, how much she loved her, how much she'd rather Kyra didn't die...Lya shakes her head and kisses Kyra's neck again, as if any of it would make a difference. She pulls Kyras sleeping form closer to her, wrapped tight in her arms.

"You're safe here with me."


	10. 6th of Morning Star, 4E 202

Kyra's head was swimming. She rolls onto her back and looks up as the Elder dragon raises its head and rears back, a gout of flames erupting from its mouth. Kyra rolls out of the way trying not to cut her face on her sword as she makes it on to one knee and takes off sprinting just ahead of the flames and ducking behind a rock.

The flame erupts around her curling over the rock and past her. When it stops she digs her gloved hand into the rock and hauls herself over it dropping down on the other side. She runs at the dragon and barely misses its teeth as she skids under it and drives her blade into its stomach.

She withdraws the sword and thrusts with the point again as the dragon howls and flaps its wings. Kyra rolls out from under the dragon between its right front and rear limbs stumbling to her feet, turning and raising her shield just in time to deflect the slashing of the dragons claws. The impact knocks her back and off her feet.

Kyra thrusts her shield hand out between her bent knees as sparks begin arcing around and down the length of her arm. The charge explodes from her open palm in a stream of blue lightning. The lightning encircles the dragon as it roars out in pain and Kyra pushes herself to her feet. She charges the dragon and leaps into the air springing off her back foot, circling her arms around its long neck and swinging herself onto its head.

She struggles to her feet riding the dragon as it attempts to buck her off and draws her sword flipping it up and snatching it out of the air point down. With both hands Kyra drives the Skyforged steel blade through the dragons skull hanging on to the hilt for dear life as the dragon lets out a mighty roar, flames exploding from its mouth.

The dragon slowly falls to the ground going limp from tail to head. Dust erupts in a cloud around her when the dragon's head slams into the ground, Kyra still hanging on for dear life with both hands gripping the hilt of her sword buried in its skull. She doesn't move as she rests with her head against the dragons scales, until she remembers what happens when a dragon dies.

"Shit." She rolls off the dragon as it begins to sizzle and smolder, the flesh burning from its bones leaving only a skeleton behind. Smoke rises from the remains as Kyra knocks the dirt off her armor and walks over to the dragons skull. She pushes the skull on its side, braces her boot against it gripping the hilt of her sword and yanking the blade out. It sizzles in her gloved palm, the pure Skyforged metal easily taking the heat of a decaying dragon.

"So that's how you kill a dragon?" Lya comes up the pathway to the field where Kyra had followed the dragon to once they heard it coming from a mountaintop near the hall.

"One way to go about doing it, yeah." Kyra sheaths her sword and stoops picking up her shield from where it had fallen.

"Impressive. You'll have to teach me those moves sometime." They turn their backs on the dragon and walk back towards Heljarchen Hall.

"I don't think you'd ever want to try getting that close to a drago-" Kyra is cut off as she's knocked back off her feet mid stride, an ebony arrow buried in her chest. Lya freezes in place as she stares down at Kyra who looked as stunned as she was. Another arrow digs into the ground almost hitting Lyas left foot as another whizzes past her ear.

Lya ducks and grabs Kyra by the arm, dragging her behind an outcropping of rocks. She looks up at Jod coming out of the treeline and points to the direction the arrows were coming from, as Kyra begins to come around. Her vision was blurry and it was difficult to breathe.

"No, don't speak baby." Lya says tears forming in her eyes as she looks down at the wound biting her lower lip, cradling Kyra against her. Kyra winces and her eyes work their way up to Lya.

"Is it all the way through?" Kyra manages, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Lya wipes her eyes with her forearm and reaches under feeling her way across Kyra's back.

"I can feel the point." Lya replies after a long moment her voice cracking, Jod comes around the outcropping of rocks.

"They were Thalmor."

"Justiciars?" Lya asks as Kyra's breathing becomes more shallow, blood fills her chest and bubbles out of the corner of her mouth.

"Looking for you I imagine." Jod looks at Lya, she was the only Talos follower among them. Jod reaches out and snaps the fletching off of the arrow, untieing Kyra's left leather bracer and pushing it into her mouth.

"Bite hard." He says as he puts his palm on the arrow shaft and begins to slowly push helping the arrow continue its way through Kyras chest. Kyra screams into her bracer as Lya holds her down by both shoulders. He rolls Kyra onto her side grabs ahold of the arrowhead and pulls the bloody stick free tossing it aside.

Lya shrugs off her leather pack and retrieves a small orange bottle. She bites the cork and pulls it out spitting it away as she tilts Kyra's head up and tilts the bottle to her lips. She flicks her hair over one shoulder as she cradles Kyras head trying to make her drink the contents.

"Kyra, sweetheart, open your eyes. I need you to drink this." She shakes Kyra a little, her eyes not opening.

"Kyra? I don't think she's breathing." Lya shakes her a little harder as she puts her ear near Kyra's lips.

"We need to get under cover now, grab her feet."

"Jod we can't move her."

"Grab her feet!" They each grab one end of Kyra's limp body and begin to move towards the treeline.

"Kyra. Baby open your eyes!" Lya pleads as she stumbles running backwards, trying to keep up with Jod though her vision was swimming with tears. Arrows begin whistling through the air around them as they make their way through the open field towards the treeline.

"Jod she's really pale."

"Don't stop, move!"

They dash into the treeline as arrows rip through the leaves and branches around them. They duck behind a boulder dropping Kyra onto the ground with enough force to make her cry out.

"Damn it." Kyra groans as she rolls onto her side in a coughing fit. She spits blood on the ground and wipes her mouth rubbing the hole in her chest that's now quickly scarring over, the color returning to her cheeks.

"What's going on?"

"Thalmor they're here for me, I'm sorry." Lya looks at the ground as an arrow skips off the rock and flips over their heads falling next to Jods boot.

"Thalmor? Are you kidd-" Kyra grunts in pain as she pushes herself to her feet.

"Hey! Do you know who you're shooting at?! I'll have Ondolemar take off your heads!" Kyra yells into the forest as the arrows stop.

"Ondolemar? The Skyrim Head Justiciar? How do you know him?" Lya asks as Kyra's eyes search the woods.

"We've...met." Kyra looks right and down at Lya still crouched behind the boulder.

"How do we know you're on the level?" A disembodied voice comes from the woods as Kyra rests her hands on her hips.

"I'm the Dragonborn." Kyra searches the woods again after a long moment of silence.

"I have no quarrel with you Dragonborn, we want the Talos worshipper."

"Well you can't have her." A Thalmor operative in hooded robes steps out from behind a thick tree and into view.

"...and I cannot leave without her." The Justiciar rests his hand on the hilt of his sword as he closes the distance between them.

"It's not going to happen."

"I'm allowed to neutralize anyone in my way, even the Dragonborn if nee-" Kyra grabs the Elven dagger from the small of her back and throws it as hard as she can. It spins as it sails through the air until it suddenly stops in the palm of the Justiciar as he snatches the dagger out of mid-air, he chuckles as he tosses it aside.

"Oh damn." Kyra looks crestfallen as she draws her sword and hauls herself over the boulder and drops onto the other side. The two warriors approach each other.

"Make it easier on yourself Dragonborn, turn over the Talos worshipper to me. It's not like you're going to turn her in yourself, like a good Imperial citizen would." Kyra rolls her wrist whipping her sword through the air as several other Thalmor melt out of the woods surrounding them.

Kyra looks left then right, she chews on her bottom lip as she takes in her situation. She looks back at Lya, peeking over the rock at Kyra, Lya was always painting herself into corners and she was always the one who had to fight her way through it. Seven Thalmor Justiciars, two or three she could handle but seven? She blows the air from her lungs, and curses under her breath.

"Take me instead." Kyra says after a long moment of silence.

"Excuse me?" The operative asks not masking his surprise very well.

"You heard me. She's not the Talos worshipper I am, arrest me. But. She. Walks. Do we have an accord?" A sneer slowly curls around the Justiciars lips as he chuckles to himself and nods. Kyra tosses her sword at his feet and the other Justiciars approach them.

One yanks her arms behind her back removing binders from his robes. They turn her in place as she looks up at Lya whose staring at her as they tightly bind her wrists, then use leather straps to bind her forearms. Lya is shaking her head as Jod rests his heavy hand on Lyas shoulder holding her in place. Kyra looks from Lya to Jod, her eyebrow arching as for the first time he becomes a part of Kyra and Lyas silent conversations.

I'll come for you.

Don't.

I can't just-

That's an order Lya, and you. You better keep her safe.

The head Justiciar stoops to pick up Kyra's Skyforged sword and examines it, his boots crunch in the leaves and twigs littering the ground as he approaches Kyra.

"This is an impressive blade. The blade of the _Dovahkiin_ must've slayed a thousand men." He almost spat the word as he whipped the blade through the air. It sings with the motion, the blade perfectly balanced, honed to a razors edge and it has slain a thousand souls of man and beast alike, maybe more.

"I don't notch my belt or anything." Kyra rolls her eyes, she gets smacked across the back of the head and told to be silent. Kyra tosses the hair back from her face looking at the man who struck her, her eyes narrowing.

"What?" The Justiciar asks daringly. Kyra smirks and lowers her head springing off her back leg thrusting her head forward and up headbutting the man, his nose breaks with an audible crack as he falls back onto his ass in the dirt. A Thalmor Justiciar's hand lights up with electricity and he drops his hand on her shoulder making her jerk and cry out falling to her knees. She looks up at him blowing a few strands of hair from her face.

"Now now play nice." The lead Thalmor says as he pushes Kyra's sword back into its scabbard and buckles it around his own waist. Kyra looks at him as his cohort shoves her along towards the horses.

"I'm going to want that back."


	11. 24th of First Seed, 4E 202

Kyra grunts as she lifts herself up for the hundred and twelve time. The bars that made up the ceiling of her cell made perfect hand holds, Kyra exhales as she lowers herself almost to the floor and lifts herself up again, having to lower her head and lift until the back of her neck touches the bars. Sweat matted her bangs making some stick to her cheek and the corner of her mouth as she blows the air from her lungs and lifts herself again. Beads of sweat run down long strands of hastily braided hair and drip off the ends long since split from lack of care.

Kyra arches her back and lifts her feet up hooking them into the bars letting herself hang. Her long single ponytail falls almost sweeping the floor as she crosses her arms across her chest and bends, lifting her head to her thighs. The door to the cell block slams shut and Kyra stops as several pairs of boots approach her cell. She places one hand on the floor and nimbly flips onto her feet brushing the corrosion and rust from her hands.

"Prisoner. Step back." Kyra complies stepping back over to the pile of straw on the floor that served as her bed.

"Time for interrogation." The Thalmor says nodding to the guard, who then approaches her.

"And here I thought you'd take today off." Kyra raises her hands fingers open and turns around so the guard could bind them.

The guard shoves her into the wall and she looks over her shoulder at him as he grabs her left hand twisting it behind her back. Kyra lashes out with her right elbow catching him in the jaw, she turns in place and jams her knee into his stomach as she shoves him back towards the cell door, wrapping her fingers around the hilt of his sword yanking it from its scabbard.

The room fills with electricity and the walls spark with blue lightning. Her entire body seizes and she collapses to the ground on her hands and knees, lightning arcing across her body.

"Shove the sword this way prisoner." The Thalmor sneers as she manages to make her arm move just enough to slide the sword a few inches across the stone floor. The lightning finally subsides and she collapses completely to the ground, face against the cool stone as she pants in ragged breaths.

"I have to give you credit almost three months in this place and still fighting. Most inmates of Northwatch don't make it a week. You truly have a dragons spirit." Kyra wipes her mouth, pushes herself to her knees and sits back on her legs.

"Come a little closer and you can meet it personally." Kyra takes to one knee then pushes herself to her feet. The guard she struck already recovered and rubbing his jaw, eyes Kyra and she looks back at him with that cocksure smirk of hers. He moves closer and jams his armored fist into her abdomen.

"Enough!" The Thalmor barks as Kyra straightens after the blow doubles her over. She chuckles a little to herself as she flips the single sweat soaked ponytail off her shoulder. The long braid almost makes it below her shoulder blades, she couldn't remember the last time her hair was this long.

"Come along you." The Thalmor says grabbing Kyra by the tunic shoving her into the hall with the three other guards he brought with him.

They march her down the cold stone steps going deeper into Northwatch Keep. The route had become familiar in her time here and they come upon the all too familiar door. It opens and the sickening smell of decay, blood and other body fluids hits her like a wave making her choke. They shove her inside and she stumbles.

The Thalmor who retrieved her from her cell marches her through a room past the Racks, the stone forge full of tools heated by coals, tables covered in blood, flesh and organs. She closes her eyes and takes little breaths focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Before long she feels herself getting shoved into a chair. Kyra opens her eyes as the Thalmor guard locks her shackles to a hook embedded in the table, pulling the door shut as he exits.

Kyra sniffs and wipes her nose on her shoulder, the hooded figure on the other side of the table is bent over a large blank journal. The scrawling scratching sound of the quill seems to fill the quiet in the room that follows. Kyra looks around the room for a long moment, her eyes felt like sandpaper she blinks, finally she gets tired of waiting and clears her throat loudly and deliberately. The figure continues writing for a long moment before finally setting the quill down in between the gold leafed pages.

"So. Kyra." Elenwen says, looking up at her as Kyra's eyes stop wandering the room and fall back onto the Elf.

"Elenwen."

"Is today the day?"

"For?"

"You to admit you're not a Talos worshipper, give up your friend, and go home." Elenwen sits back in her chair foldings her arms across her chest.

"All glory to Tiber Septim. Death to the Dominion." Kyra cocks her head and fixes Elenwen with her bright blue eyes, the fire behind them still burned bright even after weeks of relentless abuse and torture.

"Kyra it makes no difference if you know the words or how loud you declare them. I know you, you served the Empire long before anyone had any notion of you being Dragonborn. You're not a Talos follower, in fact our research indicates you pray to no god at all." Kyra looks at the ceiling and Elenwen sighs playing with her quill for a long moment before dropping it back between the pages.

"Very well. Guard." The door opens and the Thalmor guard who brought her here steps in.

"We'll try this again tomorrow. To the Rack this time." Kyra's eyes fill with tears but she says nothing as the man unlocks her shackles from the table and hauls her to her feet. She doesn't look back at Elenwen as Elenwen leans back over her pages, the door slamming shut behind them.

The cell block guards dump Kyra onto the stone floor of her cell as she curls herself into a ball, her cell door slams shut in their wake with a loud clang. Kyra had never been in this much pain in her life, and that was saying something. She tucks her face into her knees and her shoulders begin to shake uncontrollably as she sobs quietly in the dark. The cell begins to glow with a blue hue of light as a soft singing voice begins to echo off the stone walls.

"Our hero, our hero claims a warriors heart, I tell you I tell you the Dragonborn comes." The ethereal glow begins to solidify forming an almost human like shape. Kyra wipes her eyes as she blinks, squinting in the bright light.

"It's an end to the evil of all Skyrims foe'. Beware, beware the Dragonborn comes." The spirit's form begins to sharpen into a beautiful woman, a mane of dark hair flowing around her shoulders. Kyra looks up into the blue eyes of the spirit, the flames behind them as bright and intense as her own. Yvette.

"Mom?" Kyra's voice cracks as she wipes her eyes again, wincing in pain she pulls herself to a sitting position leaning back against the wall.

"Kyra." The aura surrounding her begins to fade as Kyra's mom kneels in front of her. Yvette reaches out with her hand to touch her cheek, Kyra nuzzles it looking up into eyes she hadn't seen since she was six years old.

"Look at what a beautiful woman you've become. So strong and carried your burdens so well, your father would be so proud of you Kyra." The tears behind her moms eyes almost makes Kyra begin to cry again. She wipes her nose on her sleeve and shudders in pain as she adjusts herself against the stone wall.

"Mom I-"

"Don't speak. Let me just take you in. My little girl, the Last Dragonborn...from the days you grew within me I knew you were going to do great things, now they're writing songs about you." Her mom pulls up the hem of her robes, revealing her sandaled feet as she moves next to Kyra and takes a seat on the cold floor beside her.

"Is this a dream?" Kyra's mom looks down at her, her face clouded with pity her eyes reflecting her concern as she shakes her head.

"It's not."

"Why are you here?" Yvette looks around Kyra's cell and then folds her hands on her lap crossing her legs at the ankles settling in beside her.

"To keep you company."

"Until they execute me." Kyra replies, more of a statement than a question.

"No, of course not sweetheart. Help is coming." Yvette runs her fingers through Kyra's loose bangs, brushing them behind one ear.

"Help? No one knows where I am."

"You just need to hold on a little longer." Kyra whimpers as she clutches her side. A sudden sharp pain fires up her left flank like lightning, it makes her entire body clench which only causes more pain. It passes after a long moment and Kyra lets her head fall back against the wall with a soft thud, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"There's no one coming for me this time, I'm all alone here." Kyra's tone was defeated. She had never been in so much pain, she had never been so tired or felt so broken. She lets her eyes close, allowing the welcome relief of sleep to overcome her. She could still feel her Moms hand touching her hair.

"You're never alone Kyra."


	12. 17th of Second Seed, 4E 202

"On your feet prisoner." The voice comes from the Thalmor Justiciar who had been her cell block guard for what felt like an eternity now.

Once Elenwen had turned up the heat on her methods, after her tenth or eleventh trip downstairs time lost all meaning. Kyra looks up from the dark corner of her cell, her arms resting on bent knees her back to the wall, bangs shadowing her face spotted with grime and bruises. Three long and thin angry red scars from Rulindil's blade run down her right cheek, defiling her once near flawless beauty.

"That time again already, Ismor?" The Thalmor steps into the cell leaving the door open behind him. Something he would not have done when she first came here, not without at least four men to back him up.

That was nearly six months ago now, and the fire in the Dragonborns eyes had long since faded. It didn't even take a gentle prodding to get her to comply she simply obeyed. No matter his position, or his belief that they were the only worthy race, he had watched Elenwen methodically break this woman's incredible spirit, the incarnation of a Dragon's very essence. He had watched her endure unbelievable pain and still have the energy to spit in his face and break his companions bones. Now she just sits there quietly in her cell, without a word.

"It is indeed." What Elenwen did, in his opinion, was worse than death it was dishonor.

Kyra sighs and pushes herself to feet, Ismor simply steps aside and lets her walk out of her cell in front of him. He watches her as she walks, there was no more pride in her step, her shoulders were stooped and the loss of weight made her look feeble and weak.

He follows her as she navigates the network of hallways leading down into the depths of Northwatch, leading to the door to the torture and interrogation rooms. She pushes the door open herself walking past the guards without a second look.

"What do you want Elenwen?" Kyra pushes open the door to the interrogation room without ceremony, dropping herself into the seat across from her with a resounding thud. Elenwen drums her fingers on the table as she looks Kyra over then sighs and shakes her head.

"You win, Dragonborn."

"I win huh?" Kyra folds her arms across her chest and cocks her head quizzically at Elenwen.

"I believe you. You're the Talos worshipper, not your friend Lya."

"Well I'm glad we could finally come to an understanding."

"Yes well it's just unfortunate we couldn't come to one sooner." Elenwen looks up at Kyra with a look on her face that makes Kyras stomach churn.

"Elenwen...what did you do?"

"Your friend Lya is dead, killed in a bit of a dust up with the Markarth city guards." Kyra narrows her eyes.

"This is a bad bluff even for you."

"If only it were, she's really dead Kyra but don't worry you'll be seeing her soon enough." Elenwen rises to her feet and summons the guards.

"Because if I have the Talos worshipper I sought in my custody then an execution is in order."

Kyras eyes focus on Elenwen, and she gets a sudden spine chilling realization that she may not be lying this time. Her eyes fall to the table as she tries to process the things racing through her mind. How can she be dead? In Markarth of all places? What would she do now? This was all to protect Lya, so much pain she had endured knowing Lya was safe as long as she was locked up in here, that was the agreement. Now there was no point...there was no point to anything anymore.

"Elenwen." There was something different in her voice that made Elenwen move back to the side of the table where Kyra could see her once again.

"Kyra?" Kyra is silent for a long moment before she looks back up, Elenwen could almost see the flames ignite behind the Dragonborns eyes. It was the last word Elenwen ever uttered.

Kyra's arms and hands erupt in flames as her eyes darken in a way that makes Elenwens heart plummet into her stomach. The air in the room felt charged, it begins to tingle Elenwens skin as Kyra throws her fists apart snapping the links in her shackles, weakened by the intense flame. She grips the long table in both hands and throws it aside into the wall, closing the gap between them.

There was nothing that pleased Kyra quite so much as the look of utter disbelief on Elenwens face as Kyra locks her hand, still aflame, around Elenwens throat and shoves her against the wall. She lifts the elf higher up the wall as her robes singe and smolder around the collar from the heat. Elenwen's scream fills the room before Kyras tightening grip silences her to barely audible choking gasps.

The door to the interrogation room bursts open and Kyra turns, without releasing Elenwen, extending her left arm. A stream of fire from her palm fills the space between her and the door. The guard who was unlucky enough to be first into the room was almost instantly engulfed, he screams as he writhes on the ground the flames consuming him. Elenwen yanks a steel dagger from her robes and thrusts it down into Kyra's right shoulder.

Her eyes widen in horror as Kyra slowly turns to her and reaches up pulling the knife from her wound seemingly unaffected. She fixes her gaze on Elenwen as the flames encircling her fist intensify, still wrapped tightly around Elenwens throat, growing brighter and hotter. Elenwen makes one final gasping noise before Kyra could feel the soft tissue give way, pulverizing under her grip. She lets her drop to the floor, dead, Kyras hand print forever seared around her throat.

She spits on Elenwen's corpse and turns to the guard she cooked alive, taking a knee to pull the dagger from his belt. She looks up as another guard rushes into the room, she throws the knife underhanded extending her arm until she releases. It spins through the air and buries to the hilt in the mans chestplate, knocking him off his feet.

Kyra picks up the first man's sword and rips the dagger from the other guards chest. She makes her way into the narrows passageway outside of the interrogation room, barely ducking the swing of a Thalmor Warriors sword.

The sword skips off the rock wall in a shower of sparks as Kyra thrusts her captured sword into the unguarded space at his flank between his waist and chest. The blade enters through one side of the ribcage and out the opposite piercing both lungs and his heart as their eyes meet. The mans eyes widen, gasping for air in the last throes of death.

"Die already you high born piece of shit." Kyra growls her nose inches from his own as she shoves the sword deeper, only the hilt hitting skin stops her from shoving her entire arm through him. She lets him fall and pulls her sword out giving him one more kick in the abdomen for good measure.

"Dragonborn!" A familiar slimy tone comes from ahead of her as she turns raising the sword. The Thalmor Justiciar who captured her stands in between her and the nearest passageway out.

"You." She says as he reaches down and draws her Skyforged steel blade from the scabbard belted around his waist.

"Me." They run towards each other as Kyra slashes with her blade.

The Thalmor easily parries it but Kyra was already bringing the blade up for another strike catching the Thalmors arm taking a sizeable chunk out of it, making the man stumble back in pain as he looks down at his wound then back at Kyra. Kyra's prideful smirk begins to slowly etch itself into the corner of her mouth for the first time in months.

"I'd give in now, it's only going to get worse." She says rolling the sword in her wrist whipping it through the air locking both hands around the hilt.

The Thalmor charges her, swinging his sword over his head and repeatedly striking at her forcing Kyra on the defensive. The man was a blur as she attempts to keep up, six months imprisoned here had taken its toll on her stamina. Kyra finally manages to deflect the blade away enough to jam her right fist into the Thalmors jaw. The Thalmor looks like he was struck by a horse as he falls to one knee, seeing stars.

Kyra wastes no time in circling around him and sliding the blade under his chin. She pulls back his hood grabbing a handful of his hair as he begins to struggle trying to get to his feet, she could tell he knew these were his last moments.

Kyra pushes his head forward and violently jerks her captured sword across his throat slitting it almost to the spine, spraying her with blood. Kyra straightens to her full height and puts her boot at the base of the Justiciars skull shoving him forward onto his face.

She drags her sleeve across her mouth and spits the taste of the Thalmors blood from her lips. She takes a knee and turns him over thoroughly pleased at the look of complete shock frozen forever on the Elfs face. She undoes her sword belt from his waist and buckles it around her own.

"I told you I'd want this back."


	13. 18th of Second Seed, 4E 202

Kyra pushes open the door to the passageway leading to the exit of Northwatch Keep. She jogs to a stop, bolts from the crossbows of the guards in pursuit bounce off the walls and floor. Kyra pauses searching the room for a way out, she picks up an iron shield off the table and looks up at the pull chain above it, a smirk curls at the corner of her mouth.

The guards burst into the room as Kyra yanks the chain and takes off at a dead run towards the small passageway bisecting the two large rooms. Kyra throws herself onto the shield and slides through the passageway on her belly just as three sharp blades on the ends of swinging pendulums begin carving the air mere inches above her head.

She slides to a stop on the other side and stumbles to her feet picking up the shield as she pauses looking back at the guards who were yelling at her and firing crossbows, trying in vain to get one through the axe trap. She smiles and gives the guards a two finger wave turning and taking off for the double doors leading to the courtyard.

Kyra pushes the door open and her eyes meet the two Thalmor guards at the door. One was turned with his back to her and one was stooped on one knee adjusting a leather strap on his boot. He looks up at her in surprise fumbling for his sword. Kyra kicks off her back foot and drives her heel into the mans face knocking him back onto his ass.

She pulls the dagger from her belt and slits the second guards throat as she wraps her hand around the crossbow in his right hand turning him in place leveling the crossbow at the guard she kicked. She squeezes the trigger and the bolt goes cleanly through his left eye and out the back of his skull letting her human shield crumple to the ground.

Arrows begin whizzing past her head and impact the ground at her feet as she drops the crossbow and takes off sprinting towards the front gate. The two guards at the gate were already waiting for her swords at the ready, she doesn't slow down instead takes the stairs immediately to their left.

Taking the stairs three at a time she rams her shield into the archer to her right knocking him off the wall as she vaults over the railing and sails through the open air over the wall.

She impacts the ground rolling uncontrollably as she hits her head on a rock and stars explode behind her eyes. She digs her hands and feet into the ground making deep gouges into the dirt until she stops on her hands and knees. She looks up at the men who were saddling horses to lay chase to her, she pushes herself to her feet and takes off at a sprint into the thick woods surrounding the fortress.

Behind her she could hear the men giving chase, cursing and muttering as they fought their way through the thick brush. Kyra shoves the branches away from her face as she pants in the cold night air. She never slows the Thalmor close on her heels as she hears the ever growing sounds of rushing water.

She comes out of the woods at a small shore along a river, the water was shallow but turbulent moving rapidly towards its terminous, an enormous waterfall. Kyra splashes into the freezing water still able to walk through most of it as she comes to a stop at the mouth standing on a pile of rocks splitting the waterfall.

The Thalmor come out of the woods carrying torches and shouting at her. She turns to them as they make their way into the river some loosing arrows that whiz past her ear and hip. Kyra looks down the waterfall as one of her pursuers loses his footing and is pitched over the falls.

Kyra turns in place and spreads her arm throwing herself over the falls and towards the deep pool below her.

The air whips past her as she makes her body more rigid and brings her hands forward, extending her arms in front of her and bringing her feet together as the water rushes towards her, she plunges into the freezing depths of the choppy water. The pool below the waterfall was merely the beginning of an even larger river and she's immediately caught by the current and pitched into the rapids.

She claws her way to the surface as she rolls and tumbles unable to fight the current rushing her down the river. She gasps when her head breaks into the open air and reaches out for a rock but its slick with water and algae, her fingers unable to find purchase she's pushed along with the current again.

The water carries her along for a short distance before it begins to widen and calm. She rights herself and swims over to the nearest bit of shoreline, pushing herself onto the welcome relief of solid ground.

Kyra rolls onto her back and stares up at the sky for a long moment, Masser's red glow fills the sky as the stars twinkle. She exhales and wipes the water from her face, unable to find the energy to move.

A sabre cat screams in the distance providing the motivation to push herself onto her hands and knees then to her feet. She looks down brushing herself off and wringing the freezing water from her hair.

"You ok?" Kyra looks up at a man sitting atop a carriage, a lantern extended on a pole in front of him, his horse snorts clopping one shoed hoof against the ground.

"Don't suppose you're going my way are you?" She asks smiling politely as she ruffles her dripping hair.

"Even if I wasn't I can't leave a woman out here soaking wet in the freezing cold, what would my wife say? Climb in back." She thanks him profusely as she climbs in back moving aside several sacks of flour.

"So how did you-"

"It's a long story."

"It's a long ride."

"Well believe it or not it all started with a former lover."

"Every good story always does."

Kyra looks at herself in the long mirror straightening the simple dress Hador's wife, Vittoria had been gracious enough to lend her. She turns one cheek away and looks at the three long scars down her right cheek.

"Are you all right dear?" Vittoria asks standing just inside the doorway of the small dressing room just off their bedroom. Kyra uses two fingers to brush some of her bangs over to cover the scars and turns putting on her best fake smile.

"Yes, much better thank y-" Vittoria approaches her, cupping her chin in her hand she turns Kyra's head from one side to the other examining the scars and the bruises which had gone from deep purple to green as they began to heal.

"You've been through quite the ordeal from what Hador has told me." Kyra simply nods.

"Well if anyone can take it I'm sure you can, Dragonborn." Kyra looks away, she hadn't told them who she was.

"Listen I-" Vittoria holds up her hands.

"It's all right dear, it's perfectly all right."

"How'd you know?" Vittoria picks up Kyra's sword belt from the end table and pulls it out a few inches letting the sigil of the dragon clutching arrows in its talons, stamped into the base of the blade, glint in the lantern and candle light. Kyra brushes her bangs behind one ear blushing, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I should've said something."

"As I said dear, its all right. Now let's get you into a bed, you look like you haven't slept in a month."

"By all means lead the way."

Kyra opens her eyes and stretches. She felt a little better, she rolls onto her side and presses her cheek back into her pillow, closing her eyes to go back to sleep, before the smell of food wafts its way to her nose. She sits up sliding out of bed, she crosses her arms across her chest as she shuffles sleepily out of the bedroom and downstairs.

"That smells deliciou-" Kyra stops in her tracks just inside the kitchen.

Hador sat at the table, slumped over his food a puddle of blood forming at his feet as it drips off the table onto the floor, his eyes frozen in surprise. Vittoria's head was in a pot of boiling liquid slumped over the stove the contents still bubbling from the heat, a knife driven into her spine.

"Hello Kyra." Kyra whirls around at the voice, looking at the hooded figure leaning against the wall cutting an apple with a knife.

"Gabriella."

"In the flesh." The Dark Elf smiles as she chews a slice of apple, Kyra's eyes fill with angry tears.

"These were good people, Gabriella. Harmless, good people." Gabriella shrugs.

"I got bored waiting for you to wake up." Kyra wipes her eyes and looks at the ceiling shaking her head in complete disbelief.

"What do you want?"

"Astrid had me track you down, she has a favor to ask."

"Whatever it is, tell her to go fuck herself."

"She said you'd say that, which is why we...aquired.. some leverage. Your little friend Lya." Kyra's heart feels like it stopped making her inhale sharply.

"Lyas alive?"

"For now, as long as you cooperate." Kyra blows the air from her lungs and looks at Vittoria and Hador a tear making its way down her cheek.

"What does she want?"

"Oh, she just wants you to help us assassinate the Emperor." Kyra's eyebrow arches.

"Excuse me?"


	14. 22nd of Second Seed, 4E 202

The stone slab door closes behind them as Gabriella shoves Kyra further into the room. Kyra flips some hair back from her face as she spies Astrid leaning in the stone archway leading further into the Sanctuary, picking at her teeth with one gloved hand.

"Well, well, well long time no see, Kyra." Astrid pushes herself off the wall and flicks something off her fingertip.

"Astrid. Not long enough." Gabriella shoves Kyra forward again and she stumbles, regaining her footing she fixes Gabriella with a glare.

"Why is she restrained?" Astrid looks down at the leather straps binding her wrists and two more binding her forearms together.

"She hit me." Kyra smirks as Gabriella rubs her bruised jaw, three days on the road it still hurt. Astrid walks closer to her and examines Kyra's scarred cheek.

"You going to behave?" Kyra doesn't reply but raises her bound hands and Astrid slices the thick leather bands with the blade from her hip.

The leather straps fall to the floor and Kyra rubs her wrists before she turns to Gabriella and jams her fist into her nose, knocking her back on her ass. Gabriella growls as she climbs to her feet moving to charge at Kyra but Astrid steps in between them. Kyra's eyes narrow as she shakes her hand in the air trying to ignore the pain in her fist.

"All right, all right enough. You hit her, she tied you up, you hit her again, you're even."

"How is that ev-"

"You're even." Astrid says cutting Gabriella off mid sentence.

"Take me to Lya."

"I don't think you're in any position to make demands Sister." Kyra's palms begin to smolder, she could feel the heat begin to emanate from her hands her eyes darkening.

"I won't ask again." Kyra says taking a step towards Astrid, she looks Kyra over slowly taking in every inch of her. This was not the woman she'd stolen a kill from six months ago.

The anger, the hatred behind her words and in her tone was palpable, the flames behind her eyes were brighter more intense but somehow darker, menacing. She could feel the air getting heavier around her...it frightened her. She was a skilled assassin, one of the best, but the Dragonborn with nothing keeping her power in check? Kyra was a walking talking weapon... entire armies would fall before she could be stopped. What happened to her?

"She's downstairs." Kyra brushes past Astrid bumping her shoulder into hers making her stumble back a step as Kyra marches down the stairs and past the main chamber of the Sanctuary.

"Where did you find her?" Astrid grabs Gabriella's arm holding her back.

"In this little farmhouse near Dragon Bridge, why?"

"Can't you feel it? Somethings different about her."

"You mean the scars?"

"Not just that, how did you track her down?"

"One of my contacts, the town courier told me saw her riding in the farmers carriage. Said the guy fished her out of the river, soaked to the bone with nothing but her sword." Astrid's eyes widen.

"Gabriella she's been missing for six months..."

"So?"

"So. Northwatch Keep is just up the river from Dragon Bridge."

"She couldn't have been there, her friend would have said something." Gabriella calls after her as Astrid rushes past her hurrying down the stairs.

Kyra takes the steps down into the main chamber of the Sanctuary taking the stone steps down the large archway. She sees Lya sitting alive and well at the big dining table talking at length with Babette. She pauses at the arch way listening to Lya telling a story, a very familiar story.

"So I took out the three guards at the gate and made my way into the encampment, alone and outmatched..."

"Liar." Kyra's voice fills the rock hewn space, Lya looks up as Kyra takes the steps down into the chamber slowly.

"There were five guards at the gate of that camp, and she wasn't alone." Lya gets up so fast she knocks her chair back as she rushes into Kyra's arms. The two women hug for a long silent moment. Kyra exhales resting her lips against the top of Lya's head, breathing her in.

"I thought you were dead." Lya says, her voice muffled her face pressed into Kyra.

"I was." Lya looks up at her, her eyes searching Kyra's questioningly. Lya steps back slowly running her fingers down the scars along Kyra's cheek. Kyra grabs her hand brushing it away and Lya recoils a little, this wasn't the reunion she had expected.

"Kyra?" Astrid's voice comes behind her, Kyra turns as Astrid steps closer.

"Can we talk?" Kyra nods touching Lya's arm reassuringly.

"I'll be right back, finish your story." Astrid leads Kyra down past the dining table and towards the living quarters. Pushing open the door to her room she shoves a protesting Arnbjorn out slamming the door in his face.

"Talk." Astrid says as she approaches Kyra who takes a step back.

"About what Astrid? You brought me here, remember?"

"Believe it or not, I'm still your Sister and after all we've been through Kyra... I care about you and I see the pain you've been in." Astrid folds her arms and leans back against the door as Kyra exhales and falls back into a chair.

"The Thalmor?" Astrid asks breaking the long moment of silence that follows. Kyra simply nods and picks at an imaginary speck of dirt on the table with her fingernail not meeting Astrid's eyes.

"How long have you-" Kyra shrugs before Astrid finishes.

"What month is this?" She asks finally meeting Astrid's concerned gaze.

"It's near the end of the Second Seed. Twenty second, twenty third day somewhere around there."

"Near six months then I guess." Astrid takes a step towards Kyra which makes Kyra reflexively jump from her chair and back away a couple of steps holding out her hands in front of her. Kyra makes a face realizing what she had done only after she had done it, to say she was a little jumpy was an understatement.

"I'm fine." Kyra says trying more to convince herself than Astrid. Astrid moves closer and touches the scars on Kyra's once flawless skin. Kyra's eyes fill with tears and Astrid pulls her into her arms. Kyra begins sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's all right Kyra." The assassin looks up at the ceiling as she hugs her dear friend.

The Thalmor must have tortured her relentlessly, it was their specialty after all. That's what she had felt, what she had seen in Kyra when Gabriella walked her in. She wasn't angry she was broken, she was the wounded animal that claws and snaps as you try to help it. She curses them silently as she hugs Kyra tighter, the sobs growing louder. They both sit down on Astrid's bed as Kyra continues to cry, six months of anguish spilling over like a flooded river.

It was nearly two hours before Lya came looking for them. By the time she pushes open Astrid's door Astrid was already pulling the blanket of her bed over Kyra. She had cried until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and sleep graciously, mercifully, took ahold of her. Astrid puts a finger to her lips when she sees Lya and quietly steps from the room closing the door behind her.

"Can she still do it?" Lya asks as Astrid looks at her.

"She's no good to us like this. Shes a wreck, the broken bones will take time not to mention the damage to her mind. Leave it to the Thalmor to screw everything up." They both turn and walk back towards the main area of the Sanctuary.

"The scars we could use to our advantage. A reason why the Gourmet always hid his identity, vanity." Lya adds as they go down the steps.

"True, how progresses the rest of our plan?"

"I've got Festus hunting down someone who knows the real Gourmet like you asked."

"We shouldn't be using her like this, and you should have told me the Thalmor had her." Astrid looks sideways at Lya who nods.

"I know I'm sorry, but she's the only one who can pull this off. Even busted up and tortured she's still six times as good as any of us."

"The situation is desperate, I'm under a lot of pressure to deliver for this client." Astrid picks up her cup from the dining table and drinks from it.

"As long as you hold up your end and I get my payment. Besides she'll thank us for this one day."

"Or kill us both."


	15. 25th of Second Seed, 4E 202

Kyra pants as she sprints through the thick woods, she plants her hand on a large boulder and vaults over it rolling to one knee then pushes herself to her feet and taking off at a run once again. Ducking under a large tree limb she skids down an embankment into a riverbed and picks up her pace. Following the river bed she dashes up a steep grade jumping the last few feet and hauling herself over the rim and onto the ground above her.

Kyra jogs over to the tree with the yellow ribbon tied to it, yanking it off the branch it hangs from. She holds the ribbon high up in the air for a moment then sweeps her arm across her sweat soaked forehead. She puts both hands on her knees and leans over trying to catch her breath. Her ponytail spills over and almost sweeps the ground, she straightens and flips it back off her shoulder.

"You're still too slow." Kyra turns as Astrid melts out of the woods pushing the hood back from her face. Kyra exhales her heart pounding, she wipes the sweat from her forehead again before it drips into her eyes.

"I know."

"Your little "vacation" has sapped your performance, you need to do better."

"I know." Astrid walks closer and takes the yellow ribbon from Kyra's hand.

"Again." Astrid takes off at an easy pace melting back into the woods. Kyra exhales and kicks off her back foot giving chase.

Kyra's blade sings as it clashes into Arnbjorn's sword. She easily parries his thrust and spins on her heel bringing the blade down, it skips off his shield as she recovers and slashes at his throat making him step back, forcing him onto the defensive.

He counters as she brings up the shield and the impact makes her stumble onto her back foot. Arnbjorn shows her no mercy as he continues his relentless assault, blow after blow deflecting off her shield until she's on one knee. Arnbjorn yields as he sheathes his sword pulling Kyra to her feet.

"This is not the swordsman I knew nearly two years ago, these are your own moves I'm using here Kyra."

"I know ok?" She brushes herself off and drops her Skyforged blade onto the table in a huff.

"You're distracted. No focus or discipline, it's like working with Whelps again." Kyra fixes him with a look.

"I was a Whelp once, remember? As were you."

"Not when I was a Companion you weren't. What happened to you?" They both take a drink from the tankard of water sitting on the table by her sword.

"Astrid didn't tell you?" Kyra hands the tankard back to him wiping her mouth.

"Astrid doesn't tell me anything that I don't need to know."

"I was a prisoner in Northwatch..." Kyra lets that hang as Arnbjorn looks at her for a long moment.

Kyra was a lot of things to him, a fellow Companion, a fellow assassin, and she was the little sister he had never had. It made him angry, the thought of her rotting alone in the Keep for all that time. The Divines only know what horrors the Thalmor subjected her to.

"That says it all I guess huh?" He says after a long moment of silence as Kyra takes another gulp of water.

"I'm just a little rusty, ok? It'll come back to me."

"Not while you're standing there it won't." Arnbjorn shoves her sword against her chest pulling his sword from its scabbard. Rolling his wrist he whips his blade through the air and hefts his shield.

"Again." Arnbjorn charges her as a man in checkered red clothing walks by the archway giggling to himself. Kyra cocks her head at him turning back to Arnbjorn only moments before he lashes out at her. She brings her shield up in the narrowing space between them and the blow catches her off guard knocking her back onto her ass.

"Focus!" He says sternly as he hauls her back to her feet.

"Was that a jester?"

"Wha- Oh. Cicero." Arnbjorn almost spat the word.

"Cicero?"

"He's the Keeper."

"The Night Mother is here? The Night Mother is being guarded by a jester?" Kyra turns back to the direction Cicero went off in, a puzzled look on her face.

"He arrived here after the Cheydinhal Sanctuary fell, the rest of the city with it from what I heard."

"Cheydinhal fell?" Kyra had fond memories of Cheydinhal, she had fond memories of all of Cyrodiil. She felt herself getting a little homesick after hearing most of the places she loved were disappearing one by one to drug lords and in-fighting.

"What does Astrid say about all this?" She asks as they both lean against the table piled with weapons.

"She thinks Cicero's going to make a play for command of the Sanctuary."

"Sounds a little paranoid."

"It sounds a lot paranoid, but I support her no matter how crazy something sounds."

"Because she's your wife or because she's in charge?" Arnbjorn chuckles shaking his head.

"A little of both. All right Whelp, enough talk. Time to turn up the heat." He picks up his big axe from among the pile on the table. Kyra draws her sword from its hand tooled scabbard, rolls her wrist making it sing as it slices through the air and smirks.

"Let's go then dog breath."

Kyra feels a hand rustling her on her shoulder moving her back and forth forcefully. She pulls the elven blade from under her pillow as her eyes snap open, extending her right arm pressing the blade to Astrid's throat.

"That's a good way to end up dead Astrid." Kyra growls as she sits up pulling the blanket up to her chest trying to cover herself.

"I've been up all night talking to Arnbjorn." Astrid sits on the edge of her bed as Kyra scoots a little to the left making room for her. She looks around at everyone else sleeping soundly in their beds and rubs her eyes.

"What time is it?"

"About three, Arnbjorn thinks the best way to get you back on your feet is to get you back out there as soon as possible, so, I have a contract for you."

"Do I need to be awake for this? It's been a long day."

"Yes, you do, and I hope you have a dress."

"Why?"

"Because, you're going to a wedding. Up, up, everyone's in the dining room."

Kyra pulls the blanket from her bed tighter around her body as she shuffles into the dining area outside of the living quarters and plops down into the nearest chair. Her eyes drift close then open again when Astrid slaps a pile of loose parchment in front of her. Kyra blinks, and reaches through the fold in the blanket holding up the first sheet of parchment to the light.

"Vittoria Vici?" She asks setting the parchment back down.

"She's the first cousin of Emperor Titus Mead II, she's your contract."

"Astrid, there is no me, there is no contract. I don't work for the Brotherhood anymore."

"Do I need to remind you that you're not a guest here? Do this or she dies." Astrid nods to Lya who is sitting quietly in the chair at the end of the table to Kyra's right. Kyra sighs blowing some loose bangs from her face and picks up the parchment again studying it more closely. Astrid takes a seat next to Arnbjorn waiting for her to finish reading. Kyra sets the paper down and looks up at Astrid.

"Are you out of your mind?" She asks after a pause, Arnbjorn chuckles as she continues.

"The cousin of the Emperor, at her own wedding, in Solitude?"

"That sums it up nicely." Astrid pours herself a cup from a boiling kettle and sets one in front of Kyra.

"Yes, if the summary is you think I'm suicidal."

"You don't really have a choice, besides, if anyone can pull this off it's you. Well, I suggest you get on the road the weddings in two days." Kyra fixes Astrid with a stare for a long moment before she exhales and gets back up shuffling back into the living quarters to pack.


	16. 28th of Second Seed, 4E 202

"Thanks for the lift." Kyra hands several septims to the carriage driver as she walks past the guard standing next to the horse and up the steep road to the city entrance.

"But...you're not- I didn't take-" She ignores the protesting carriage driver as she brushes past the crowd of people. The city was packed with throngs of citizens here to celebrate the wedding, she easily melts in with them and past the guards who don't look twice at her.

Once in the gates she looks both directions and ducks away from the crowd taking the long way to the other side of the Temple. She takes the steps leading up to Castle Dour two at a time rushing past the blacksmith and through the portcullis. As she enters the heavily guarded castle she slows her pace walking more casual among the thinner crowds of people walking to the Temple of the Divines.

The sun gets blotted out briefly as they pass under the second portcullis leading into the Temple courtyard which was covered in flowers and banners. Kyra ducks away from the crowd again and jogs up the stairs along the archer walks atop the walls of the Castle.

She hurries along in the shadow to the small loop tied over one of the stone blocks spaced along the railing. She grips the rope and quickly hauls up her small bundle of gear she had dropped over the wall night before. She unties her bow from the bundle and throws the strap of the quiver over one shoulder, pushing open one door to the upper floor of the Temple. She quietly makes her way across to the other door and stops in front of it, dropping her bundle onto the floor.

She looks around to make sure she's alone as she pulls the black robe over her expensive dress. She tugs the black hood over her head and straightens it, shouldering her bow and quiver again, she ducks quietly out of the door.

Kyra slides along the stone wall of the walk just enough to see around the corner and down into the courtyard of the Temple as the select few given seating begin to take them. She looks further up the courtyard at the two seats sitting on a small raised platform, where the groom Asgeir Snow-Shod could be heard arguing with one of the guests at length about the civil war. Kyra leans against the wall and waits looking up at the azure blue sky.

"What am I doing?" She asks herself quietly, but snaps out of it when she hears the sounds of the wedding beginning, music begins to play as everyone takes their seats.

She peers around the corner, still tucked neatly in the shadows, and spies Vittoria and Asgeir taking one another's hand. The priest was saying something too quietly for her to hear as she pulls the Ebony bow from her shoulder and slides an arrow from the quiver.

She makes sure her hood is covering her face before she steps out into the light, pulling back on the bow she focuses on Vittoria.

She exhales.

The arrow flies through the air and she nearly loses track of it before it plunges into Vittoria's neck, spraying Asgeir and the priest in blood. Kyra tosses the bow and quiver over the wall and ducks back into the door to the Temple. She takes a knee on the cold stone floor of the Temple and pulls the hood over her head and off.

She sniffs and angrily swipes the tear sliding down her cheek as she rips the robe off her shoulders and stuffs them both into the nearest cabinet. She could hear the sounds of guards barging into the Temple and clambering their way up the stairs, as she looks around for a way out. She briefly considers jumping the railing into the chapel below but pushes her hands from it as she spies something that gave her an idea.

Kyra picks up a kitchen knife next a plate of half eaten food and cuts her upper arm, messing up her hair as blood wells in the fresh cut and runs down her arm. She clears her throat and screams at the top of her lungs as the guards pile through the archway from the staircase. Kyra points emphatically at the door.

"He-please-someone!" They all rush past her as she slowly backs away letting them all run out the door in pursuit of the man who didn't exist.

She turns on her heel and rushes down the stairs. She brushes past the priest offering her assistance and through the open doors into the chaos of screaming people. She walks down the steps, looking over at Asgeir who is sitting on the ground and has his bride in his lap, stroking her cheek.

Kyra melts back into the crowd of people trying to escape the courtyard and through the open portcullis. She takes the steps past the blacksmith and the fletcher, hurrying along with the people trying to leave before anyone else got killed. The walk through the city gates and down towards the stables was the longest walk of her life.

Guards were eyeing everyone, she walks back up to the carriage driver she tipped earlier for the ride he never gave her. She doesn't say anything instead climbs into the carriage.

"You again I-" Kyra presses the kitchen knife she had tucked in her sleeve into his back to the left of his spine. She presses hard enough for him to really feel it, he grunts in pain as she moves her lips closer to his ear.

"Grab the reigns-Don't look at the guard" She warns pressing the knife harder into his skin.

"Just go."

Kyra pushes open the stone door to the Sanctuary and walks down the stairs leading into the entry room. Astrid is leaning in the archway that leads deeper in, she pushes herself off of it as she sees Kyra approach.

"Word of Vittoria's demise beat you here."

"Great, then there's not much to discuss is there?" Kyra doesn't meet Astrid's eyes as she brushes past her and down the stairs, stretching her arm rubbing the bandage around her bicep.

"Kyra..wait." Astrid chases after her, not hearing the scuffle coming from the stairs.

"You little-" Kyra clutches at the slash mark across her abdomen as Cicero rushes past her and flies towards Astrid.

Astrid and Cicero go tumbling to the ground as Veezara comes bounding up the steps bleeding profusely from two deep cuts on his chest. He pulls Kyra to her feet and they both grab ahold of Cicero by the arms, Kyra slams him into the wall pinning his blade arm above his head.

"Stop- fighting me you damn crimso-" Kyra struggles to keep the little man in place as he pulls another blade with his free left hand and cuts Kyra's left forearm deep enough to make her cry out and step back as Cicero runs up the stairs and through the stone door.

Arnbjorn barrels past them his axe in his hands as Veezara helps Astrid to her feet. By now blood was everywhere, Kyra and Veezara both slide down the wall out of breath and panting.

"What was that?!" Kyra exclaims breaking the long silence as they all stare at the stairs leading up to the stone door.

"The little man went berserk, then attacked me." Veezara looks up at Astrid as he pulls a piece of cloth from a table above his head and starts ripping it into bandages.

Kyra gestures for him to give them to her and helps him bandage the bloody gouges in his green skin. They both stand up and help each other wrap the bandages around their torso's. Kyra ties the bandage around his chest tight enough for him to grunt in pain as she knots it.

"You two ok?" Astrid asks finally finding her voice as she stands staring at the stone door in shock. Kyra and Veezara look one another over, then themselves.

"Yeah, we'll live." Kyra replies as she rests her back against the wall, leaning over putting one hand on her knee and one on her abdomen, wincing in pain. The other members of the Sanctuary come bounding up the stairs, Nazir running over to Kyra who holds up her hand saying she was all right.

"What happened?" Astrid puts her hands on her hips and looks at everyone.

"He just freaked out, he jumped over the table at Veezara gave him a few good slashes, knocked over Festus, and then I guess came here to attack you." Nazir looks Veezara over as Kyra punches the wall in frustrated pain, cursing.

"Kyra..." Astrid begins but Kyra cuts her off nodding, and straightening to her full height.

"Yeah, yeah I'm on it." She turns on her heel and marches down the stone steps towards Cicero's room.

Kyra takes the stairs that lead up and deeper into the Sanctuary through the room behind the stained glass mural and the Night Mother's coffin, past the living quarters and through the little hallway leading to the dusty and cobwebbed room Cicero called home.

She tries the door, locked, she blows the air from her lungs as she slips her fingers around the two little metal lockpicks she keeps tucked in her hair behind her right ear. Stooping to eye level she pushes the pick into the lock and bites the inside of her cheek as she finds the small tumblers and then inserts the tension bar.

"Come on." She mutters before she feels the lock turn and stands up pushing open the door.

The place was a mess, the bed looked like it had never been slept in. There was a bowl full of iron daggers sitting on one table and everything was stained with ink. She follows the little ink finger marks until she comes upon a red bound journal, then another. Turning in place she sees two more with different color bindings on the table by the bed.

She opens one and reads, thumbing through a few of the pages, her eyes widen as she continues flipping over another page and then another.

"You should read these." Kyra drops the stack of journals onto the table in front of Astrid. She picks one up and thumbs through as Kyra drops into a chair and kicks her boots up onto the table.

"I knew the little jester was a little nuts but...wow." Astrid says after nearly a half an hour of reading.

"So what do you know about where he's heading?" Kyra asks as she walks back out of the living quarters tightening a strap on her black armor, buckling her sword around her waist.

"The Dawnstar Sanctuary? Not much, as much as anyone, we haven't used it a hundred years or more."

"Well the pass phrase is in his notes so I guess I'll take a ride." Kyra tucks Cicero's final journal into a small knapsack she then slings over one shoulder.

"Kyra."

"I know."

"Just bring my husband back alive ok?"

"I will, I promise."

"And that little bastard you can kill."

"Like I needed your permission."


	17. 1st of Midyear, 4E 202

Kyra lifts Arnbjorn to his feet, his arm draped over her shoulder. She grits her teeth as she helps Arnbjorn limp over to the Sanctuary door.

"You need lose some weight." She slaps his stomach making him groan as he chuckles. She grips the stone ring and hauls the door open with a loud creaking sound.

"Astrid." She calls out as she pulls the door closed behind her, hooking her foot in the ring and pulling. Astrid runs up the steps sliding Arnbjorn's other arm around her shoulders, taking the weight from Kyra who lets his arm drop.

"Don't get comfortable I'm sending you back out." Astrid adds as she helps Arnbjorn limp his way to their bed just off the main chamber, Kyra latches her hands behind her back and stands by the door waiting patiently for Astrid to return. Astrid doesn't take long, soon she's stepping out closing the bedroom door behind her.

"Gear up, and head north. A place called the Nightgate Inn, there you'll find a chef, more specifically an Orc chef."

"I'm familiar with the Inn, the Orc however not so much."

"Good, Festus has located the means to which you're to get close to the Emporer. This famous chef is known as the Gourmet, kill him, retrieve his writ of passage to Castle Dour. This is the one Kyra, make for Solitude and take care of this contract." Astrid finally meets Kyra's gaze as the two women stand facing each other an arm's length apart. Astrid hands her a paper wrapped package which Kyra examines.

"A most lethal root, with this you'll poison the Emporer's meal. He'll be dead before the second spoonful." Kyra stuff the root into her pack and slings it back onto her armored shoulders.

"When I do this, we're done. You understand?" Kyra rests her hand on the hilt of her blade.

"Of course, dear sister, of course."

"Astrid I swear if you cross me I'll-" Astrid takes a confident step closer.

"You'll what, exactly?" Kyra reaches out gripping the front of Astrid's dark shirt in two fistfuls, whipping Astrid around she slams her into the wall. Kyra moves closer, her nose and face inches from Astrid's her blue eyes full of flames and in the flickering shadows of the candlelight, they seem to glow.

"I'll send you to the Void you seem to love so much far, far before your time." Kyra grits her teeth as she presses Astrid into the cold stone wall, lifting her a few inches higher. Astrid futily kicks the wall with her feet as she struggles trying to pry Kyra's grip from her chest, the muscles in her arms were like bands of iron.

"Kyra!" Arnbjorn leans against the door frame of his bedroom, clutching his side already out of breath. Kyra doesn't release her as she looks up into Astrid's wide eyes and tightens her grip.

"Kyra. If you kill her you'll have to fight me next."

"I can take you." Kyra replies her voice low, almost a growl through her gritted teeth.

"Sure but you really want to? I don't want to fight you...put her down Kyra. Nice and easy." Kyra exhales rolling her eyes to the ceiling, she lets Astrid slide slowly back down the wall and onto her feet. She brushes the wrinkles out of Astrid's shirt and steps back. Turning in place she pushes open the stone door and closes it behind her.

"Are you out of your mind?" Arnbjorn asks as Astrid straightens her shirt in the mirror by their bed.

"Be quiet, husband."

"I know she looks like a kid, I know you think you've seen it all but Astrid-hey." He grips her arm as she walks by.

"She has the soul of a Dragon she walked out, hear me, walked out of the Keep after months at their mercy. That girl could rip your heart from your chest and show it to you. I want you to make peace." Astrid looks down at his hand then up at Arnbjorn.

"She's not going to be a problem anymore." She pulls on his index finger and lifts it off her arm while yanking it from his grip.

"Because you're going to honor your deal."

"Yeah, I'm going to honor the deal."

"Good girl, I knew there was a reason I married you."


	18. 3rd of Midyear, 4E 202

Kyra looks up at the star lit sky and exhales in the cold mountain air. She leans against a tree just short of the treeline looking at the Inn exuding the warm glow of life from within and bathed in the moonlight without. Not much had changed in the months since that simple job for Empire. Go here, kill someone, go there, get paid. Life used to be so much simpler.

Kyra pushes herself off of the tree and her boots crunch in the freshly fallen snow as she walks up the steps and pushes open the door to the Nightgate Inn.

The glow from the fire pit in the center of the Inn gave off an enormous heat that almost instantly melted the snow from her armor and began to drip off the loose bangs framing her pretty face.

"Welcome traveller, if you desire anything just have a seat and I'll be over in a moment." An attractive brunette smiles at her gesturing to a table which she declines with a wave of her hand, making her way past the other patrons and walking up to the Innkeeper at the bar.

"What can I get you?" Kyra makes a thoughtful face and sets a few septims on the bar.

"Honningbrew." She accepts the bottle and takes a gulp turning in place on her stool and looking around.

"Nice place. Get many visitors?" She turns back to the bar and sets down her bottle of mead.

"Oh the odd traveller like yourself, a few regulars, course there's the Orc in the basement." Kyra nods casually fingering the label of her bottle.

"Orc, in the basement? Shouldn't he be out slaughtering something or another?"

"Oh not this one he's the educated type, says he's a writer some kind of cookbook. He just sits down there and samples the wine, course the advance on his rent he pays, he can drink the whole supply."

"Advances?"

"Yeah, like months in advance. Another one?" He asks as she looks down at the bottle in her hand.

"Um you know I just remembered my coin is in my saddlebag, before I run up a tab here better make sure I'm good for it right?" She smiles and winks.

She sets down the half empty bottle and slides off of the stool, crosses the main hall ducking out of the front door. She takes the steps past the drunk clutching onto the railing and slides around the corner out of sight.

"Orc in the base...ment." She says quietly to herself as she stops in front of steps leading down and into the cellar. Looking around she walks down them and tries to the door handle. Locked. People are so unwilling to trust she thinks to herself, rolling her eyes as she extends her right forearm and slides the pick and her tension tool from between the bracer and her armor.

Kyra takes a knee placing the lock at eye level and inserting the tools. She rises to her feet as she bites her tongue and, extending her thumb like a wedge, spreads the distance between the tool and the pick. The pick raises the tumblers and the tension tool lowers the release she twists the lock and it clicks open as she pushes on the door and ducks inside.

She stays low for a moment as she lets her eyes adjust to the dark room. She raps her knuckles against the object beside her. Wine barrels. The only thing she can make out after a long moment is the light coming from an open door at the other end of the cellar. She silently makes her way over to it winding her way through the barrels and casks of wine, peering around the corner of the door frame.

At a small table, lit by the candlelight, an Orc in very fine clothes sat with one leg crossed reading from a book with his back to her. Kyra retreats a few inches back around the corner and sits on her haunches making a thoughtful face her brow furrowed.

She looks around the cellar for a long moment, looking back into the room once more her eyes quickly searching it, before retreating once more. Kyra makes her way silently over to a large wine barrel and opens the top of it peering into the dark liquid.

She exhales and shrugs the leather pack from her shoulders making her way back to the door. Kyra unbuckles her sword belt and drops it onto the pack retrieving the eleven blade from the small of her back ducking through the doorway and crossing the floor to her target.

She stops a few feet short of him, looking at the small throw blanket on the bed. She looks at the man with his back to her as she slowly, quietly, pulls it off the bed. Biting her blade between her teeth she quickly rolls it up.

Kyra clamps her hand around the Orcs mouth and slits his throat. She throws the towel around his neck and uses the ends to hold his head against her shoulder, using her own body weight to keep the big Orc in his chair as he quickly bleeds to death, the blanket soaking up the blood spray. It takes a few moments as he flails knocking his book and his drink onto the floor, the cup quietly hitting the carpet with a muffled thump.

She feels him go limp and pushes him forward over his book not wasting anytime as she circles her arms under his armpits and silently curses as she lifts him up and drags him from his chair and out of the door.

Kyra carries him over to the still open wine cask and dumps him head first, stooping to lift his feet and letting him tumble the rest of the way in closing the lid. Kyra retrieves her sword and her pack, walking back into the room she picks up the folded letter from the table.

"Thanks again." She says gesturing with the letter at the cask, crossing the cellar once again.

Her bangs whip in the breeze as she turns on her heel, pulling the door closed behind her. She walks back around the corner towards her horse, looking down at her feet watching herself make boot prints in the snow. Kyra hefts her pack onto the rear of the saddle and mounts it turning the horse in place towards the road to Solitude and snaps the reigns.

"Hyah!"


	19. 6th of Midyear, 4E 202

"Just pick it up off of the floor a little I don't want it sweepi-ow! Watch the pins." Kyra blows the stray strands of hair from her face in frustration as Endarie looks up at her and pins up another length of the white dress. The design was an off the shoulder slim cut design with sleeves, something that seemed to, gratefully, take the attention away from the large chef's hat atop her head. She looks up at it and sighs.

"For someone supposedly so high born, and a Breton at that, you would think you would have discovered some poise young lady." Kyra glares down at the tailor and proprietor of the Radiant Raiment, premiere clothing shop of Solitude.

"What exactly are you saying?" Kyra asks as she slides her hands down the smooth and tightened waistline, down her hips until Endarie slaps her hands away, gesturing menacingly with her scissors.

"You fidget, child!" Kyra's mouth falls open.

"I do not!" Kyra looks up as Taarie comes into the room and hands Kyra a glass of wine, she reaches down smacking her little sister's arm in a scolding manner.

"Be nice to her." She warns.

"She claims to be Dragonborn, a long way from the little snot nosed insolent I knew in Cheydinhal I'll add, and she can't sit still for a few moments to fit a dress. Don't why I'm bothering, this one in a dress..." Endarie jabs another pin into the lower part of the dress bringing the hem up.

She slaps Kyra's leg telling her to stand up straight for the twelve thousandth time. Taarie comes around in front of Kyra rests her hands on her hips and looks her over, shaking her head in bemused disbelief.

"You have come a long way child. So beautiful."

"For a half breed." Endarie mutters and Taarie slaps her upper arm again, leveling her finger in her sisters face.

"I remember when you were no higher than my knee." Taarie smiles as Kyra blushes, looking down at the floor.

"When are you going to stop all this nonsense find yourself a nice man to settle down with?" Kyra rolls her eyes and flashes her perfect smile.

"Men. Men are...not really my thing, Taarie." She arches her eyebrow before she jumps when Endarie jabs her with another needle.

"Then find yourself a sweet girl from the plains and settle down. You are Dragonborn, Thane of Haafingar you're a wealthy girl, still young still pretty..."

"Taarie just sew ok?" Kyra looks at herself in the mirror and back up at her chefs hat. She blows the air from her lungs.

Kyra takes the pathway up to the doors, stopping just short of the portcullis and puts her hands on her knees leaning over. She had been trying to not think about exactly what she was doing, but it all began to wash over her. She looks down at the Writ in her hand, and for a brief moment considers just walking away.

"Miss, are you all right?" One of the guards comes forward from the portcullis and moves closer to her, she looks up and smiles politely.

"Yes, I thought perhaps I had a rock in my shoe. I'm here for the dinner party."

"Of course, if you'll just follow me all attendees must be brought to Commander Maro." Kyra gestures for the guard to lead on and walks past his counterpart and under the archway.

"Commander, another guest."

"Not a guest." Kyra says straightening to her full height and squaring her shoulders, as if looking down upon the two men. She presents her writ to the elder man.

"What is this?" The Commander snatches it from her.

"Of course, the chef. My apologies, Gourmet, we have of course been expecting you." Commander Maro bows slightly and gestures for the guard who escorted her to open the door behind him. Maro steps aside and gestures to it.

"The castle chef is anxiously awaiting your arrival in the kitchen, straight through there and to the left." Kyra merely nods and walks past him, resisting the urge to look back over her shoulder.

Kyra walks down the small set of steps and crosses the main foyer taking the left and through the small passageway to the kitchens. The heat from the ovens wash over her as she almost gets hit by a man carrying a large crate of fruit. A woman leaning over a small cutting board using a knife to dice vegetables doesn't look up at Kyra as she speaks.

"Another delivery? Just put it over there with the others." Kyra stands there hands resting at the small of her back as she rocks back on her heels and then her toes and back down again.

"What are you deaf?" The chef finally looks up at her.

"No just the chef you've been waiting for." The woman's face slowly falls apart, her eyes widening her mouth agape at a loss for words.

"You- the Gourmet. Oh my, my sincerest apologies well...um wow. Ok, well time is short. I have the base for your signature dish all prepared, we just need to add some other ingredients. Would you prefer to-?" Kyra nods and takes an apron off the hook sliding it over her dress and belting it around her waist.

The Gourmets signature dish, the Potage le Magnifique. Kyra flips a knife from the counter into the air and catches it, she wasn't a legendary chef but she could bungle her way through one meal.

She spies a cup full of chopped carrots and dumps them into the base boiling away in the pot. She picks up some horker meat from a plate to her left and cuts it into strips throwing a pinch full of salt onto it pushing it with the blade off of the cutting board and into the pot.

Kyra pours some mead from the bottle and tilts her head back taking a big gulp from it, the castle chef looking at her, puzzled. Kyra wipes her mouth and pours some of the mead from the bottle in with the rest. As she drops a small cutting of the root onto the cutting board and dices it into tiny bits, pushing it into the soup and stirring it.

"I have to say I am impressed, simple yet so flavorful. I had the honor of tasting your Potage when you cooked for Jarl Elisif last year, though not the priviledge of seeing you make it. Well, allow me to carry it in and you just stand there and look...amazing." Kyra nods as she follows the woman out of the kitchens and upstairs into the dining room.

Kyra could hear her heart pounding in her chest, she could hear each of her steps echo off the walls of the stairwell, she could hear every breath as they approached the door to the Emporer's dining room.


	20. A Dish Served Cold

"Ah at last! Come in, come in!" Emporer Titus Meade II looks up from his bread and his wine, his guests turning to look as the double doors swing open revealing Kyra and the castle chef.

Kyra locks her hands at the small of her back and stands up straighter as she follows three steps behind the chef carrying the meal of the evening.

"Emporer. It is my honor to present to you the Gourmet, who personally prepared this meal for you tonight." Kyra stops just inside the dining room, her eyes wandering slowly from left to right.

There were three guards in the room. One to her right, one to her left nearest the Emporer, and one who thought no one could see him from the small hallway beyond the table leading out to the castles archer walks atop the walls and portcullis.

"So Gourmet, I must thank you for coming all this way." The Emporer says leaning past the chef to look at her. Kyra nods and bows.

"Of course my Emporer, the gratitude is mine. I hope you enjoy your meal." She rises again looking at the guard closest to her.

"Well as Emporer I must claim the right to first tasting." He dips his spoon into the bowl and tilts it to his lips, nodding in his delight as he swallows and goes for another.

"This is delicious, absolutely delicious. It's-It may-" The Emporer clears his throat and tugs at his collar, clearing his throat again before his eyes roll back and he drops face first into the bowl. The people surrounding the table gasp as the guards look at one another then at her.

Kyra yanks the hat from her head and throws it into the guards face who was closest to the Emporer.

The guard who was on her right and closest to her draws his sword and lunges for her. Kyra side steps wrapping her arm around his sword arm and flips him through the air, twisting her back and slamming him into the ground.

She steps onto the one of the fallen chairs knocked over in the panic, on top of the table and jumps onto it skidding to the other side.

Kyra barely gets enough speed to ram her shoulder into the guard who comes around the corner, knocking him back off his feet.

She hauls the door open and bolts through it into the midnight air, sprinting down the long stone walkway towards the castle windmill.

A crossbow bolt ricochets the cobblestone on her feet as the torches in the windows ignite and three agents of the Penitus Oculatus march out of the door. Kyra stumbles to a stop as Commander Maro appears in the window above the door slowly clapping his hands together.

"That man was without a doubt the most insufferable decoy to ever be employed by the Empire." A sudden chill goes down Kyra spine as she looks at the three men surrounding her on the narrow stone walkway.

"I'm afraid you, an assassin for the Dark Brotherhood just made an attempt on the Emporer's life." Kyra's eyes widen as the guards grab her by the arms and force her closer looking up at Maro.

"Surprised? So was I when a member of your "family" came to me with a deal. I get to stop an assassination, look like a hero, I get the Dragonborn whom the Thalmor have been searching for so eagerly...and the Dark Brotherhood continues to live." Kyra struggles in the guardsmen's grip looking up at the Imperial soldier.

"You're lying."

"So she can talk! I'm afraid not young lady, Astrid gave you up." Kyra looks at the ground for a moment eyes searching the ground in disbelief, but she knew it was true, no one else would be that stupid.

"But never fear. I've already handled that loose end, just like I must now deal with this one. Kill her, dump her in the Ghost Sea." Maro looks at her a long moment before turning on his heel and disappearing back into the windmill.

The agent holding her left arm releases her to draw his sword. She waits a heartbeat until the guard thrusts and she grabs his sword arm, stepping back redirecting the blade thrusting the point into the other agent gripping her right arm. The third guard launches a bolt from his crossbow that goes wide whizzing past her ear and he begins to reload.

Kyra wrenches her right arm free and kicks the guard on her left, he goes tumbling back and over the stone railing to the ground below.

She violently rips the sword out of the guard on her right and throws it with both hands over her head like an axe, it tumbles end over end whipping through the air and catches the third agent in his chest in the midst of reloading. He falls back and stares up at it for a moment in shock before he dies.

She turns as more guards coming from the castle side of the small walkway begin pouring from the door. She takes off, hurrying down the stairs leading into the small tunnel that leads to the main road bordering the port of Solitude.

Kyra bursts through the doors and into the lamp lit road, jogging to a stop in the light. She looks left then right, behind her she can hear the guards in pursuit getting closer, as they bang and clamor their way through the narrow stairwell that leads to the shoreline.

She curses and takes off to the left sprinting down the long dark road towards the fork leading east back into the heart of Skyrim.


	21. Burned, Betrayed

"Whoa there." Kyra yanks back on the reigns and swings herself out of the saddle, something didn't feel right.

She slaps the stolen horse on the ass and sends it trotting away as she moves quietly through the woods towards the Sanctuary. Her path through the trees was lit by the moonlight as she approaches a small opening in the treeline, and spots the men talking just outside of the door leading into the Sanctuary.

Kyra takes a knee in the dirt as she watches the three men begin carrying barrels into the Sanctuary. She looks around for something, anything she could use as a weapon.

She spies the archer walking alone, atop that natural stone archway camouflaging the stone door. Kyra melts back into the woods and makes her way slowly around the ridge to the other side.

The archer stands in the moonlight looking down at his friends, when he should have been paying attention to his surroundings. With his back to her he says something to them about how slow they move.

"Let's hurry up, sooner they're dead, sooner we can go drink." Kyra moves out of the woods and wraps her hands around the man's mouth.

She drives her knee into his kidney and kicks his leg out from under him.

She keeps her hand clamped around his mouth as she slides her leg over his chest and straddles him. Placing one hand on the back of his head and hooking her thumb onto his chin, she twists until she hears his neck snap. The archer dying without a sound.

She picks up his bow and examines it, taking a knee on the edge of the stone archway she examines the barrels the two other Penitus Oculatus agents were carrying between them from afar. Turning back she moves a little further away from the ledge and retrieves an arrow.

Kyra rips a small piece of fabric from her sleeve and wraps it around the arrowhead knotting it tight. She turns her hand palm up and looks at it for a long moment before it ignites with flames.

She holds the fabric over the flame until it ignites and she strings it in the bow moving back to the edge. She rises to her full height as the two guards grunt lifting another barrel of the flammable liquid. Kyra draws the arrow back and whistles.

She releases the arrow which plunges into the barrel and it explodes blowing both of the agents in opposite directions, one falling into the tar pit and quickly beginning to sink as he ignites the tar.

Kyra jumps down from the natural arch, stumbling she gets back to her feet brushing herself off. When she looks up she comes to face to face with Festus Krex, nearly two dozen arrows pinning him to the tree, his arms raised defensively in front of his face.

She shakes her head as she pulls the sword from a dead Agent's hand and pulls open the door the acrid smell of smoke and flames meeting her nose, washing over her.

Kyra squints against the intense heat as she ducks into the main foyer and nearly trips over Lis, her back covered in arrows as she lay half on the stairs, half on the landing, hand reaching out towards the door. There were three dead agents at the base of the stairs below her.

Kyra walks down the right side of the stairs case and over the dead agents making her way towards the main chamber the sounds of yelling and fighting coming from it.

She hurries into the chamber ducking a flying Oculatus agent who hits the wall and falls back to the floor, dead. A werewolf in the center of the room roars as he lifts another agent off the ground and the one on his left jams his sword into him.

"Arnbjorn!" She yells from the staircase as the agent to his left slices the werewolf's abdomen nearly splitting him in half as his organs and several feet of intestine spill onto the floor, Arnbjorn soon following.

"No!" Kyra screams as the agent beheads him holding it up for his friends to see and turn, when they hear her over the roar of the flames.

Kyra jumps the stairs and lands on the stone floor below walking through the flames and whipping her captured sword in her wrist. The three men charge her as she takes a two handed grip on the sword and deflects the first swing of the Agent's sword.

Kyra lashes out with her foot kicking the soldier to her right away from her as she parries the thrust of the soldier to her left. Twisting on her heel she slashes the man in front of her ducking the wide swing of the soldier on her left.

She pivots on her knee and jumps back to her feet flipping the grip on her sword and thrusts it into the undefended place between his arms and lower waist, staring at her his eyes wide.

Still gripping the sword in her left hand she pulls the dagger from the dying mans belt and looks over her shoulder at the man she kicked rising to his feet.

She sends the steel dagger spinning with an underhanded throw catching him in the throat. The man drops his sword and clutches at it as he falls to his knees blood spraying the ground.

The tip of Kyra's blade scratches along the stone floor, hanging limply in her hand, as Kyra walks past Arnbjorn lying dead. She gives him a wide berth before she takes the narrow passageway into the living area. Through the passageway into the dining hall, she sees Lya laying face down on the ground. Kyra rushes over and kneels beside her turning her over.

Lya's green eyes were frozen widened in shock, her throat cut almost to her spine. Kyra wipes the tear that slides down her cheek as she closes Lya's eyes with two gloved fingers.

She reaches down and tugs on the gold chain until the Amulet of Talos reveals itself, tucked far down her chest between her breasts. Kyra puts it over her own neck and leans down kissing Lya's forehead.

Kyra walks past Gabriella, dead, slumped over her Alchemy table. She walks deeper into the dining area where on the high landing opposite her, she could see Nazir fighting an Oculatus agent.

The Redguard pivots on his heel, his scimitar cleanly parting the mans head from his shoulders. Kyra waves as she coughs in the acrid smoke and looks around for other signs of life. Nazir comes down the steps and approaches her his sword still pointed at her.

"Have you done this to us Dragonborn?!" Kyra puts her hands up and gives him a look.

"Seriously Nazir? How long have you known me?"

"It had to be asked, because I can tell when you lie. It's good to see you sister."

"We need to get out of here."

"This way." Nazir beckons her to follow as they make their way up the stairs and through the passageway to the chamber behind the stained glass mural.

"Other door, other door." Nazir says hurrying her across the room, the timber above his head gives and hits the ground spraying Kyra with ash and embers, she raises her arm to block her eyes as she yells for Nazir.

She can see no way around and turns back to the other door, a large timber and several chunks of rock blocking the only way out. The smoke was beginning to thicken as Kyra turns in place looking for a way out. She looks up at the Night Mothers coffin and the stained glass behind it, then cringes at the thought, turning in place for another way.

"Shit." Kyra kicks off her back foot and sprints across the room throwing herself at the coffin, knocking it back and riding it through the glass mural, tumbling into the deep pool below.

Kyra slowly sinks to the bottom, the Night Mother's coffin coming to rest on her left foot. She blinks in the water, pushing on it she claws up at the water only a few feet above her head.

She lets some air from her lungs, watching it bubble to the surface as she braces her right foot against the silt trying to push it away and free herself.

Darkness begins to claw around her eyes as she struggles to pull her leg free looking up as the flames circle around the mouth of the pool.

She reaches for the surface again, kicking futily at the coffin as everything goes dark.


	22. The Morning After

Kyra turns onto her side and coughs. Spitting a mouthful of water onto the stone floor, she curls into a ball still coughing and groans. Her chest ached and her muscles were on fire.

"You'll be ok." Kyra opens her bloodshot eyes and looks up at Babette, then erupts in another fit of coughing rolling onto her hands and knees. Lya's Talos amulet falls from her neck and scrapes the floor.

"Drink." Nazir pushes a cup of tea in her face as she pulls one knee under her and looks down into it.

"What happened?"

"It was all a setup, the contract, everything. I killed a decoy, Astrid made a deal with Maro to save the Brotherhood..." Kyra sighs falling back onto her ass, resting her arms on her bent knees and spitting some water onto the ground beside her. Nazir looks at her for a moment then nods.

"And Maro double crossed her." Kyra doesn't look up but nods, wringing the water from her long braid before tossing it back over her shoulder.

"So what are we going to do?" Babette looks up at Nazir.

"Well I don't know about you but I was thinking about revenge."

"We don't get paid for vengeance and we need coin now more than ever." Kyra shakes her head as she pushes herself to her feet.

"This is personal." She brushes past Nazir and takes the steps out of the Sanctuary three at a time.

"What about us?" He calls after her, Kyra pauses in the doorway.

"Sorry, I don't work here."

Kyra steps out of the carriage, her black leather hood covering her face as she pays the carriage driver. Turning she walks the long trail leading up to Whiterun. The guards at the gate don't look twice at her as she passes under the gate leading into the city.

Whiterun was bustling with activity, and of all the cities of Skyrim, held a special place in her heart. Most her time spent with the Companions was in this city and among its people.

"No place like home." She mumbles quietly to herself as she hangs a left and makes her way through the marketplace towards the Bannered Mare. She takes the steps to the Inn two at a time and pulls open the door.

Kyra pushes the hood back from her head, and looks around, her brow furrowed in thought. She undoes the band tieing her hair tossing it and teasing it in her fingers. She unbuckles the cape from her shoulders and removes her gloves, walking up to the Innkeeper putting on her best smile.

"Hi there." She says sidling up to the bar.

"What can I do for you?"

"Um, I'm supposed to be meeting someone, Amaund..." She twirls a lock of hair around her finger.

"We met last night at the Huntsman and he told me I could find him here?" The Innkeeper rolls his eyes and points to the room off the main hall.

She smiles and waves as she gets up, her smile disappearing and her eyes darkening as she marches around the corner, her fists balled up at her sides. She stops for a moment to listen at the door then backs up a step putting her boot to it, the door flying open as she enters.

Kyra sees Amaund Motierre sitting at a chair in the corner of the small room. She bounds over to him and grabs his shirt with both fists ripping him from his chair and shoving the little man into the wall

"-ow hey!...It's you isn't it? Pretty Breton, dark hair, big blue eyes, Maro said you survived..." .

"We have unfinished business Motierre. Someone tried to have me killed, killing a couple of people I loved in the process, and that really puts a girl in a bad mood." Kyra pushes him into the wall with one hand and snatches the elven dagger from the small of her back, pressing it to his throat.

"The Emporer, the real Emporer where is he?" Motierre looks at her quizzically.

"You mean you'll still honor the contract?" Kyra shakes her head.

"This is personal now Motierre, very personal. Tell. Me. Now."

"Ok, ok, Titus Mead the real Titus Mead is on a ship in the port of Solitude, the Katariah. Surrounded by Oculatus agents."

"And Maro?"

"Oh, um well-"

"Amaund." Kyra adds a little pressure to the blade against his throat.

"Yes, yes he's um-last I heard being housed at the docks of Solitude, helping the real Emporer prepare to leave." Kyra looks away for a moment, her eyes seem to glow in the shade of the fading candlelight. The ethereal blue would be mesmerizing, were she not pressing a blade to his throat.

"Goodbye." His eyes widen and he throws his hands up.

"Wait wait wait, there's the payment. If you're going to kill the Emporer take the payment and let me live."

"Where is it?"

"In a ruin called Volanruud, where I met the assassin who did the first round of contracts. In an urn, a chamber just off the main entrance..you'll let me go right?" Kyra looks at him then looks down at the Talos amulet hanging against her heart.

"Goodbye Motierre." Kyra clamps her hand over his mouth and thrusts the knife between his ribs puncturing his lung angling upwards into his heart.

Holding the little man in place as blood stains the front of his shirt, he stops struggling as she dumps him back into his chair replacing the knife at the small of her back. Turning on her heel and pulling her hood over her head, she calmly walks out of the room closing the door behind her.

"My Thane? By the gods are you all right?" Valdimar looks up from his book when Kyra bursts through the doors of Winstad Manor. Her black hood hiding her face snow spilling off her shoulders.

"It's been almost a year since we've seen you." Kyra doesn't speak as she walks up the stairs past the dining table to her bedroom, Valdimar close in tow.

"Miss Aela and Minette left long ago, my Thane. We all tried to send word but every courier swore they could not find you." Kyra throws open the wardrobe on her side of the bed, pushing back her hood as she moves several items aside and retrieves the strong box from within.

Kyra reaches back into the wardrobe and slaps the inside of one shelf divider. A small wood block pops out revealing a key secured to the back of it. She drops the box onto the bedside table and unlocks it, tipping it open to reveal several small leather bags.

Kyra unties one and dumps its contents into her palm, searching through jewels, gems, and rings until she finds a gold ring set with small blue sapphires. She holds it up to the light and the sapphires glow with the magical energy locked within. She replaces the contents in the leather purse and tucks it away into her leather pack.

"My Thane? Please say something." Kyra doesn't reply as she dumps the remaining leather purses, brimming with countless gems and precious stones, into the strong box and slams the wardrobe doors shut. She turns with it in her hands, lid propped back against her chest.

"These are for you." She states simply extending her arms in the space between them.

"So is the house." Valdimar looks down at the box of riches puzzled, before he slowly puts his hands on the underside of the box and Kyra lets her arm drop to her side, resting her other hand on his shoulder.

"And I'm not your Thane anymore." Kyra pulls the old man into a one armed hug and brushes past him, on her way out of the bedroom she stops when she sees her reflection in the mirror.

She looks at the long braid draped over her shoulder, uncut since all this began, she felt like she had aged twenty years during this whole ordeal. Almost a year? It felt like a lifetime.

Kyra pulls the blade from the small of her back, grips the ponytail just below her neck and winces as she saws through it. She looks at herself in the mirror for a moment as she ruffles the dark silky hair left behind and drops the braid of hair onto the floor.

She doesn't look back at Valdimar as she pulls open the door just off the main bedroom and steps out into the snow.


	23. To Sleep at Night

Kyra splashes through the putrid lukewarm bog water as she sprints through the dark, foggy swampland bordering the pristine water of the cold Ghost Sea.

Though the air was cold the fog was too thick for her to see her breath as she pants running through the thick branches, pushing them away from her face. Her big leather pack bounces against her as she jumps a large root and bounds up a small, steep grade coming to a stop at the edge of a small cliff.

Kyra turns in place then leans over resting her hands on her knees before she pulls the gold chain with Lya's Talos amulet from beneath her chestplate. She undoes the clasp and slides off the ring she had retrieved from Winstad Manor. Sliding it onto her bare finger, she takes a couple deep breaths and dives into the freezing waters below.

The water was frigid. It stabbed her skin like a thousand tiny needles as she tried to get her bearings. She expels all the air from her lungs and closes her eyes bracing herself for the feeling she knew was coming. She hated this part.

The icy water begins to fill her lungs and nose as her body instinctively tries to fight it. There was a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach as she forces herself to take another breath, then another, then a deeper one.

She does this for a few moments trying to calm her pounding heart. There had to be better ways to breath underwater. She pulls her glove back over the hand she put the enchanted ring on and blinks righting herself and swimming to the Emporer's ship.

The murky water was freezing, even with the enchanted ring her body was beginning to feel sluggish, like she was swimming through sand not water.

Her fingers finally slip around the rusty chain anchoring the boat to the harbor. Kyra looks up, unable to see the surface or the night sky and circles her legs around it, pulling herself up.

She exhales when her head breaks water, her body shivering in the night air as she hauls herself hand over hand up the taut anchor line and through the porthole into the belly of the ship.

Kyra drops silently onto her haunches, rolling behind a number of nearby crates. She peeks over them as she shrugs the leather pack from her shoulders and unties her sword and shield from the straps lashing them to her pack.

She buckles the sword belt around her waist and slides her arm through the leather bands on the shield, bypassing the handle for moment leaving her off hand free.

Flipping the top off of her pack she retrieves an Orc war axe with a leather thong at the base of the handle and hooks it on to her sword belt.

She takes some spare rope from the bag and examines a number of potion bottles, selecting two specific ones she makes two quick loops in the length of rope and knots them around the bottle necks, tieing both ends of the rope together and sliding the impromptu sling over her neck.

Digging deeper into her pack she retrieves a hand tooled vertical sheath and a long leather string at the other end, a crossbow she built strapped neatly into it. She loops the vertical strap through the sword belt and lashes the lower string around her thigh above her knee.

She unhooks the loop and pulls the modified crossbow from her thigh, leveling it in her right hand. She replaces it and lashes the small bolt quiver to her other thigh.

Stepping out from behind the crates she moves quietly through the deck. Most of the doors along the way were closed, being the middle of night. She creeps silently up the stairs leading to the center of the ship and voices begin to grow louder.

There was a small pub in the center of the lavish ship, several Oculatus agents sat at a full length bar sipping drinks and talking. A few shipmates were sitting at tables here and there.

Kyra's eyes search the room for a long moment before she pops her head back around the corner and looks down at the potions at her hip.

She pulls one from its knotted loop and shakes it up, popping the cork off with her thumb she tilts the foul smelling liquid up to her mouth and gulps from it. The world around feels like it warps a little as if peering through glass, she looks down at her hands as they slowly disappear.

One...two... Kyra turns on her heel and moves slowly through the room, making her way between the table and chairs.

Nine...ten...Not too fast or they'll feel the wind, not too slow or they'll see the shimmer. Astrid's own words began to echo in her ear as she thought about the first time she was ever taught to use one of these potions. Kyra creeps past the bar and tests the first step of the staircase leading up to the next deck.

It creeks loudly as she winces, freezing in place. Seventeen...Eighteen...Kyra slowly turns looking at the Agents sitting at the bar she was quickly running out of time. Kyra curses silently and bounds up the stairs as fast as silence would permit.

She uses the railing to haul herself onto the landing and ducks into a storage room at the top of the stairs just as she slowly begins to reapppear starting at her hand wrapped around the doorknob. Thirty.

She braces herself for the consequence, as Astrid used to call it. She presses her hand over her mouth and gags as she chokes trying to both not vomit and do so silently. She doubles over as her stomach twists in knots and exhales as it quickly passes. She spits the rotten taste from her mouth and peers out of the storeroom door.

She exits the storeroom making her way around the Oculatus bedrooms and stops short of an open doorway as one of the Agents changes into his night clothes. She waits for him to turn back to his dresser then darts past the doorway and up another set of stairs.

She looks back as she hits the landing and plows into an Agent who looks almost as shocked as she does. The Agent was just a moment too slow, as Kyra clamps a hand over his mouth and thrusts her elven blade upwards into the diaphragm.

She pulls the blade out and thrusts again, higher this time, the tip piercing his heart. She keeps her hand locked around his mouth as she lets him slowly fall to the floor and pulls the ring of keys from his belt.

She examines the lock to the Emporer's chambers and picks out the most intricate key, inserting it into the lock it twists easily with an audible click and she steps inside closing the door behind her.

"You look like you came to fight an army, not one old man." A calm voice from behind her breaking the sudden silence makes Kyra jump, startled, she turns on her heel eyes searching the room. They fall on the Emporer, dressed in simple clothes sitting at his desk.

"Well, to be honest this was easier than I expected." She looks over her shoulder as she looks around the room.

"Relax child, I knew you would be here sooner or later, such is the ways of Empires and assassins yes?" Kyra nods as the Emporer gestures at a chair in front of him.

"Would you indulge an old Septim, Dovahkiin?" She furrows her brow and slowly crosses the floor, setting her shield and pack against one side of it taking a seat. The two dragon heirs look at one another for a long quiet moment.

"What brings you here to me, child? Turning on your own kind?" Kyra looks away fighting back angry tears, she bites her lower lip as she searches for the right words. She looks down at her hands gripping one another in her lap. Kyra takes a deep breath and exhales.

"You and your Empire...have ruined my life. You have killed or destroyed everything I have ever loved." The Emporer nods.

"I have, of course, been made aware of the events that have transpired. I must admit I was curious given our...kinship. You wear an Amulet of Talos, that's a crime punishable by death."

Kyra looks down at it, she takes it between two fingers and rubs her tears from it as they fall from her eyes.

"It's not mine." The Emporer nods again.

"One of those people me and my Empire supposedly killed?" Kyra jumps to her feet drawing her Skyforged blade in a single motion, the tip coming to rest across the desk on the Emporer's chest. Tears stream from Kyra's eyes.

"Do you tire of this conversation so quickly Titus?" He holds up his hands in surrender.

"Forgive me, that didn't come out quite right."

"The woman I loved is dead and the Empire is to blame. One of my oldest friends is dead because of your Empire, because of your petty squabbles!" Kyra sheaths her sword as she wipes her tears with her sleeve a dark and resolute look overcoming her.

"And killing me will bring them back? You are a Doom Driven Hero Kyra, Shezarrine, legend woven in song and story, in Fate itself. Sooner or later someone is going to cut you down child. Don't let it be for killing the Emporer."

"No. Killing you or anyone else won't bring them back... but I have to sleep at night."

Kyra flicks the steel loop away and pulls the crossbow from her thigh. Her finger grazes the trigger, the dragonbone bolt ejects silently sailing across the desk and into the Emporer's forehead knocking him back against his chair, his head slumping forward onto his chest.

She stands there a long moment as she looks at the crossbow, exhaling slowly sliding it back into its hand made sheath at her thigh. She drops the metal loop over the handle securing it in place. She picks up the set of keys from the desk and walks over to the door leading outside, trying the first key then another.

Kyra leaves the key in the lock as she walks back over to pick up her gear from beside her chair and slings her pack onto her shoulders. She turns on her heel and jogs through the door jumping the railing and diving overboard into the water below.


	24. Revenge

Not a soul is about to watch Commander Maro as he leans on a dock pylon, and takes a pull from a bottle of mead.

Such was the case because there was no one around at such a late hour, Maro had yet to hear the alarms raised aboard the Katariah. This means no one is around to see when a hand appears from the dark water and locks around his ankle.

He barely gets a sound out before Kyra lifts herself out of the water her right arm coming up ahead of her an iron meat hook in her gloved hand. The last thing Maro sees is her bright blue eyes glowing in the moonlight.

The hook catches in Maro's chestplate and no one is around to see as he is dragged into the cold water of the Ghost Sea.

Kyra chews on the slice from the hunk of cheese in her hand. She lets her left leg swing as she hears a small groaning sound from in front of her. She looks up then back down at the cheese and cuts off another slice.

"I wouldn't move too much Maro. You'll start bleeding again." Maros eyes roll in their sockets as he focuses on his legs dipped into two buckets of bloody ice water, his calves tied to the chair. His hands were dipped into bowls of ice water, his wrists tied to the chair as well.

"Wha-Dragonborn, what's going on?"

"Well, at the moment, I'm having cheese, and you're slowly dying." Kyra reaches behind her and holds up one of his boots, letting it drop onto the floor with a distinct squishing sound.

"What do you mean?" She smirks.

"We'll get to that. I hope you like the place, it's where I first became initiated into the Dark Brotherhood you know." Kyra gets up and picks up the gold chain laying in the hot coals of the fireplace. She walks around in front of Maro and shows the amulet to him as it sizzles in her bare hand.

"Now then, do you know who this belongs to? I'll give you a hint. I loved her dearly, and one of your agents cut her throat."

"One of your assassins tried to kill my son!" Kyra leans down putting her soft lips to his ear.

"I don't care. Say her name, Maro." He looks up at her and chuckles shaking his head.

Kyra exhales and pulls his left hand from the bowl of ice water. It was red and white in places, and two of his fingers were already black.

Kyra picks up the cleaver from the table beside him and brings it down severing his dying fingers shoving his hand back into the ice water. Maro screams as he struggles against his bonds.

"Lya. Her name was Lya." Maro mutters through gritted teeth, Kyra shakes her head.

"On second thought you're not worthy of speaking her name." Kyra picks up the still scalding hot amulet from the table and forces his mouth open pushing the pendant between his teeth and clamping his jaw together again.

She circles her arm under his chin and holds him against her body as he screams and struggles, she holds him in place until she can't hear anymore sizzling. Kyra circles around him sliding her fingers around the long gold chain and ripping the amulet from his mouth, breaking one of his teeth.

"What about another name? Arnbjorn." Kyra drives her fist into Maro's side. She does it again striking his right flank, then left then right again, delivering rapid repeated blows ending with a left hook across his jaw as she steps into it. Rising to her full height, she walks around the chair again hand sliding across his bare shoulders.

"I'm going to take pieces of you Maro, I'm going to systematically disassemble you like you did to my life and my friends. And when you're finally dead, when I grant you the priviledge of death? I'm going to put your soul in this." Kyra holds up a soul gem as black as night in the palm of her hand, gazing into Maro's eyes that were widening in horror.

"Do you know what happens to a soul after it's trapped in a gem? I've been there Maro, and I've already made a deal with your future Masters. You are going to love it." Kyra rises to her feet running her fingers through his hair, then grips his hair in her fist shoving his head forward.

"You think I can't bring you unending torment? I'm Dragonborn. Something you should've been told before you undertook this task Maro? Before you crossed me?"

"There's legends about me, songs and stories, and there's a part you should've paid very close attention to." Kyra leans down her lips brushing his ear once again, the ethereal flames in her bright blue eyes beginning to glow in the shadow of the flickering lantern light.

"Beware, the Dragonborn comes."


	25. Bound for Better Places, 13th of Midyear

The bells around the town begin to toll as the gulls call out circling overhead. Kyra hefts her big leather pack higher onto her shoulder and takes the stairs down the long line of ships along the port of Windhelm. She looks at the ships until she finds the one that was described to her. Kyra walks down a few steps and along the walkway.

"Looking for passage young lady?" An unshaven Nord looks up from knotting a fishing net.

"Captain Salt-Sage?"

"That's me." Another man from near the aft calls out, Kyra steps onto the boat and drops her bag with a thud.

"Looking for passage?"

"Yeah, north."

"Two hundred and fifty septims." Kyra drops a coin purse in his hand.

"Say you look familiar. What's your name?"

"Kyra, and I guess I just have one of those faces."

**Thanks to everyone who took the time to go on this adventure with me. I enjoyed every moment, and I hope you did too. On that note if you wanted more, be sure to read the next installment of the Kyra Chapters. "From Solstheim with Love."


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